


Long Live the Dead

by BabyGenius



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Good Caleb, Angst, Attempt at Humor, Carrie Redemption Arc, Demon, Don’t expect much kissing tho, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Gen, Ghost Hunter Carlos, Ghost Hunter Tía, Good Caleb AU, Humor, Hurt/Comfort, I still don’t know how to tag help, Jukebox, Just h/c all around for everyone, M/M, Magic, Post canon, Soulmates, This one IS beta read surprise, and I ain’t good at it, that’s outside my comfy zone, willex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-02
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:27:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 52,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26675875
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyGenius/pseuds/BabyGenius
Summary: They thought they had everything figured out. The boys had been freed from the curse, and they had finally gotten to play the Orpheum, without crossing over. They could keep performing, keep growing. Everything was going great, and it was only a matter of time before Caleb would be a distant memory from the past.Boy, were they wrong.Who knew demons existed.Demons. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. The more time Julie spends with the boys, and the more time the boys spend as ghosts, thelessit seems like the special connection they share is just about the music. That there’s something much greater at stake.——A good Caleb AU because who else wanted to see him as a positive gay authority figure for Alex (not that I don’t love him in the show, because I do, but still). Plus a lot of other plot points—demons, hurt/comfort, soulmates, witchcraft, and ghost hunters Tía and Carlos.
Relationships: Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie, Alex & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Reggie & Willie, Alex/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Caleb Covington & Julie Molina & Luke Patterson & Alex & Reggie & Willie, Caleb Covington & Willie, Carlos Molina & Julie Molina & Ray Molina, Carlos Molina & Tía Victoria (Julie and the Phantoms), Flynn & Julie Molina, Julie Molina & Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina & Luke Patterson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson
Comments: 174
Kudos: 315





	1. An Unexpected House Guest

**Author's Note:**

> The one you’ve all been waiting for! I hope you enjoy this entire story because we’ve put hours into it. Thank you to @QueenOfTheSupernaturals and my other two wonderful Alpha/Beta readers!
> 
> Updates once a week! Don’t worry, chapter 1 is the only short chapter lol.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The past three years of Caleb Covington’s life (or lack thereof) were somewhat blurry. This may be because he had been possessed for those three years, but that was neither here nor there.
> 
> Julie had been having a pretty good day, all things considered. She and the boys had spent the night in a puppy pile on her bed, soaking in the fact that they could touch now.
> 
> She rushed out the door and down the steps, kneeling by the man’s side and attempting to take his pulse, only to fall straight through him. She looked at him in shock, and then looked at her hands.

The past three years of Caleb Covington’s life (or lack thereof) were somewhat blurry. This may be because he had been possessed for those three years, but that was neither here nor there. His first moment of lucidity in three years came right before the being possessing him transferred hosts. All he was aware of was a splitting pain in his head and his core before all his strength suddenly seemed to leave him. He could vaguely make out a silver smoke cloud snaking its way through the air, but his knees gave out and his vision went spotty before he could see anything more than a bouquet of flowers in someone’s hands. He distantly felt his head collide with the cement below him; everything after that was black.

Julie had been having a pretty good day, all things considered. She and the boys had spent the night in a puppy pile on her bed, soaking in the fact that they could _touch_ now. It was Sunday, so fortunately she had time to rest from the after-effects of the emotionally charged night prior. She had settled into the couch downstairs with a mug of hot chocolate, comfy sweats, a fluffy cropped sweatshirt, and her hair piled into a woven bun, content to relax and work on some melodies she had in her head. The boys were still sleeping, which was apparently a thing they needed as of now.

She was so intent on putting the melody to paper (she wanted to work on it with Luke later), that the ring of the doorbell startled her so badly she almost spilled her hot chocolate. She set the cup down and got up, padding softly over to the door and opening it to nobody.

“Wha—?” She looked around, first right, then left, then up, and then, finally, down. Down to where she could see a man in a heap at the base of the stairs leading to her porch. He was dressed oddly, dickish steampunk sunglasses on his face and a suit of black. “Dad!” She called out hoarsely before she remembered. Her dad wasn’t home; Carlos had baseball practice.

She rushed out the door and down the steps, kneeling by the man’s side and attempting to take his pulse, only to fall straight through him. She looked at him in shock, and then looked at her hands.

“Guys!” She called out, not knowing what to do since she couldn’t touch the man.

The telltale _poof_ sounded behind her, but she didn’t look. Dimly, she heard Luke shout, “Julie!”

She shrieked when she felt herself suddenly pulled back. Julie looked up at Luke in frustration, waving a hand toward the unconscious man. “What was that for? I don’t know what to do, I can’t touch him so I don’t know how to help!”

Alex stood behind Luke, his fingers anxiously drumming on his thigh. “I don’t know if we should help him. That’s Caleb.”

Julie shot another glance at the unconscious figure. “That’s him? That’s the jerk who nearly took you guys from me?! What is he doing _here_?!”

Reggie shook his head. “Nothing good.” He bit his lip, glancing at Caleb and then at Luke, who drew Julie closer. Reggie nudged Caleb with his foot, but the man didn’t stir. “What do you think we should do with him?”

Luke, a scowl on his face, looked somewhat lost, only shown by the draw of his eyebrows. “Take him to the studio and wait for him to wake up, I guess?”

The boys exchanged looks before shrugging as one and bending to pick Caleb up.

One would think, with the size of Luke’s biceps and the fact that the other two weren’t particularly frail either, it wouldn’t be that hard to pick the ghost up.

One would be wrong.

It took seven minutes to maneuver properly enough that they had Caleb secure in their arms, and another six minutes to transport him to the studio.

They hadn’t planned ahead very well, though, so now they were stuck with an adult man in their arms and no clue where to put him down. Julie sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose, and pulled up a chair. She dashed up to the loft and pulled out a bucket that had the rope the Molina family used for tying their hammocks to trees when camping.

She presented the rope to the boys and Reggie happily tied the knots to hold Caleb in place. Not that they would do much good considering Caleb could pass through objects if he so chose, but it was the thought behind it and the feeling of security that came from it that made tying him down somewhat comforting.

Reggie kicked him again, this time in the ankle, leaning forward to peer at Caleb’s face. “Dude is really conked out, guys.”

“I wonder what happened,” Julie wondered, leaning back on the arm of the couch.

Luke shrugged, nibbling his lip in thought. “Whatever it was, it has to have been pretty gnarly to have taken Caleb out. He’s crazy powerful.”

Julie’s lips pursed in concern. That didn’t sound too good. Caleb had already done so much, and now there was potentially someone worse out there? Couldn’t she and the boys get a break?

Alex’s fingers flew faster against his thighs as he looked up. “If Caleb is here, do you think Willie is okay?”

Luke put his hand on Alex’s shoulder, looking him in the eyes. “Hey, I’m sure Willie’s fine. Once we take care of Caleb then we’ll go with you to look for him, alright?”

Alex only nodded, his eyes glinting with worry. He looked back down at Caleb, hesitantly shoving a finger into his shoulder and yanking it back. He looked at the others, rocking back on his heels.

“Sooo…How long are we going to wait for him to wake up?”

Luke shrugged. “I dunno. I guess we just wait here?”

Julie nodded. “I’m not going anywhere before I know why he’s here. Though, I did have a song I wanted to show you guys. I had a couple melody ideas and wanted to get your input.”

They made their way to the piano, behind Caleb so he stayed in their sight at all time. Julie looked at him one last time before putting her fingers down to the keys and playing a melody composed mostly of flowing highs, but managing to time the quick, opposing lows just in time to make it beautiful.

Luke nodded along with the beat, summoning his guitar and adding a background of midtones with lows to accompany the piano’s highs and midtones. Alex tapped out an accompanying beat, and Reggie swayed with his bass, adding in his own part.

They wound down, Reggie playing one last low note as Alex’s beats came slower and farther in between until only Luke and Julie were left playing. The two finished with big smiles, their faces inches away from each other.

Luke pulled away, and the boys were pretty sure that if the dead could still blush he would be. Julie felt heat flood her body as she backed up a little bit, putting more space between the two of them.

They all jumped when a drawling voice groaned in front of them, “If you’re quite done with whatever moment you were just having.”

They hurried around the piano and came to a stop in front of the older ghost. Julie couldn’t help but notice the slight sag of his shoulders and the minuscule exhausted crinkle of his eyes. She let her mind entertain a brief moment of curiosity before putting a hand on her hip. “Why were you in front of my house?” She demanded, her eyes piercing his.

Caleb shook his head, his words coming out breathy and weak. “There’s a problem.”


	2. What Possessed You to Do That?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Immediately after declaring that there was a problem, Caleb passed out again. Julie gaped, looking at the boys and then back at Caleb. “Did he really just—?”
> 
> Reggie nudged him before looking up and nodding. “He’s out cold again.”
> 
> Julie groaned, throwing her arms up at the ceiling. “At this rate we’re never going to figure out what’s going on!”
> 
> Luke walked over carefully, putting a hand on Julie’s shoulder and rubbing circles on it with his thumb. “Hey,” he said softly. She met his eyes. “It’s gonna be okay, alright? We’ll figure this out?”
> 
> Aka we find out what Caleb’s deal was last chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi lovelies! I hope you enjoy the newest installment. The chapters are gonna be about this length, some a little longer, some a little shorter. I hope you all enjoy this one! And I hope that the Willex makes you happy :D

William was a distinguished man of taste, and he loathed the host he was in now. Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to find someone else that was close enough to Julie Molina to be around her often, yet not so close as to spend all their waking moments with her. This Nick boy was almost perfect, however much it annoyed him to be possessing what he could feel was the literal embodiment of sunshine. These were the thoughts running through his head as he hid in bushes close by the Molina house, observing the girl as she caught sight of his previous host. The man had had flair, William would give Covington that, but needing to run the club could get tiresome.

He watched as the three boys came running, completing the set of people he was targeting. William watched them for a few more seconds before poofing away. Time to go get a drink.

….

Except he couldn’t easily have alcohol in this body, could he?

_Shit._

Oh well, what’s one more broken law, not like they applied to him anyway.

——

Immediately after declaring that there was a problem, Caleb passed out again. Julie gaped, looking at the boys and then back at Caleb. “Did he really just—?”

Reggie nudged him before looking up and nodding. “He’s out cold again.”

Julie groaned, throwing her arms up at the ceiling. “At this rate we’re never going to figure out what’s going on!”

Luke walked over carefully, putting a hand on Julie’s shoulder and rubbing circles on it with his thumb. “Hey,” he said softly. She met his eyes. “It’s gonna be okay, alright? We’ll figure this out.”

Alex nodded. “Besides, it’s a weekend so we have plenty of time, right?”

Julie nodded reluctantly. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.” She walked over to the couch and fell into it, leaning back and closing her eyes. “I just want to know _why_ he’s at _my house_. He lost, can’t he just accept that?!”

Reggie nodded. “I get that, I do, but we can’t wake him up, so we just have to wait.” He and the boys plopped down on the couch next to her, Luke on her left, Reggie on her right, and Alex on Luke’s left.

Luke threw his arm around Julie’s shoulders, drawing her close. She leaned into him but remained staring intently at Caleb. They all leaned against each other, doing their best to unwind from the tension running tightly through their bodies.

The somewhat peaceful scene (originally only ruined by the guy tied to a chair) was interrupted with a loud whoosh as the doors to the studio flew open. The band jumped, Julie knocking her head up into Luke’s as Luke’s hand flew out to smack Alex in the stomach. Reggie wound up falling halfway off the couch, a bewildered look on his face.

Flynn burst out laughing, even though she had only seen Julie’s reaction. Julie harrumphed at her, settling back into the couch to stare at Caleb. Flynn bounced over, sitting down on the coffee table. She noticed Julie staring and looked around. “Are the boys here? And why do you look so upset? Did they do something?” Her face morphs into a confused frown as she points her finger around the studio. “You may be made of air but that doesn’t mean I can’t hurt you if you upset my girl again!”

Julie broke into a laugh, the boys joining in as they resituated themselves. Julie shook her head, raising a placating hand. “No, no, they didn’t do anything. Also, they’re next to me, not over there.”

Flynn heaved a massive sigh, her shoulders moving with it as her eyes semi-rolled. “Gurl, why didn’t you tell me in the first place? And if they’re over here, then why are you giving the eyes of death in that direction?”

“You remember the ghost club owner I told you about?”

Flynn nodded, unsure of where this was going. “Yeah, I remember.”

“We have him tied to the chair. He showed up in front of my house completely unconscious.”

Flynn’s eyebrows flew up. “He what?”

Julie shrugged. Luke knocked shoulders with her as she said, “Yeah. The doorbell rang and when I opened it he was passed out at the bottom of the steps.”

“And how are the boys doing?”

Reggie shrugged. “Fine. Though I wonder why he was unconscious…?”

Julie repeated what Reggie had said. Flynn nodded. “So when do I actually get to see the guys? I know you told me you could touch and interact with them now, but does that mean I can see them too, or?”

The boys and Julie exchanged looks. Luke huffed a laugh. “Actually, I had an idea about that, I think.”

Julie looked at him questioningly. “Yeah, what is it?”

Luke shifted. “Alright, hear me out. There’s a certain feeling that we get when we play with you when we can be seen, and I think it’s really similar to the kind of feeling I try to recreate when I pick something up. I was thinking, what if it’s a feeling that we need to recreate, a certain kind of focus, that can make us visible to not just you?”

Julie nodded. “And it’s like picking up an object, right? You just need to practice?”

Alex straightened. “Oo, yeah that makes sense!”

Flynn looked at Julie and then at the air next to her. “Mind filling me in on what’s happening? Not all of us can talk to dead people.”

Julie caught herself and nodded. “Right.” She explained the theory, her face lighting up as Flynn broke into a large smile.

She waited a second. “Well, what’re you waiting for!”

“Oh! Yeah!”

Luke closed his eyes, his nose scrunching as he focused. Julie took a second to smirk at the face. Luke opened his eyes, looking at Flynn. “Did I do it?”

Flynn showed no sign of having heard him, but she was still smiling. “I think I saw him for a second! He phased in and out but he was there!”

Luke groaned, scrunching his nose again. It took a few minutes, but Flynn started frantically smacking Julie on the shoulder. “I can see him! I can see you!”

Reggie, who’d had his entire face twisted in focus, threw up his hands. “Oh come on! It can’t be that hard, can it?”

Alex smirked, closing his eyes gently and leaning back. Barely a second passed before Flynn gave a shout of triumph. “I can see him too!”

Luke smirked, looking over at Reggie. “Come on Reginald.”

Reggie glared at him. “It’s not my fault I’m struggling, Lucas.”

“That was uncalled for!” Luke laughed.

“Alright, alright, play nice you two.”

Luke’s smile settled as he reached over. “You know that connection you feel with the audience when you play? With Julie, with the music?”

Reggie nodded, a thoughtful look on his face. “I think I get it.” He closed his eyes, his eyebrows furrowing. Luke and Alex exchanged looks before looking at Flynn expectantly.

She looked back at them and then where Reggie is. “I can see him!” She cheered, throwing her head back with a whoop of excitement.

Reggie’s eyes opened and he met Flynn’s, his face breaking out into a grin. He turned to Luke. “I did it!”

Luke smiled at him, his puppy eyes lighting up. “Bro, you did it!” Luke smiled at Reggie, his eyes bright.

The boys turned to Flynn, eager smiles on their faces. She grinned, teeth flashing. “So, this is the boyband.”

Luke narrowed his eyes playfully. “Who you calling boyband?”

“You. I’m calling you a boyband.” Flynn smirked, giving him a playfully curt nod. “Luke.”

Luke nodded, grinning that puppy dog grin of his as he bounced in his seat a little. “Flynn.”

Flynn nodded. “Uh-huh. So, here’s the only thing I have to say.” She leaned forward, staring into Luke’s eyes seriously. “If you hurt Julie again then I’m going to hurt you. I don’t care if you’re a ghost, I’ll find a way to do it. Got it?”

Luke nodded, swallowing. “Yeah, yeah, we do. And we would never dream of hurting her again, don’t worry.”

Flynn narrowed her eyes before smiling pleasantly again. Julie shook her head, groaning. “Flynn, no.”

“Flynn, yes,” she countered.

“It’s fine, nothing we weren’t already thinking,” Reggie chuckled, sharing a look with the boys as they shrugged.

“So, how different are the 20s?” Flynn asked, clasping her hands eagerly. Julie sighed fondly, sitting down next to the girl and leaning back, supporting herself with her arms.

Reggie mirrored Flynn, leaning forward. “Oh my god, okay, I have _so_ many questions you would not believe.”

Luke nodded. “Yeah, me too.”

“Like, what’s ‘woke’?”

Flynn took a second to digest the question before laughing, her head tilting slightly back and her right hand grabbing her knee. “Okay, so… ‘woke’ is a way of saying you’re aware of political and human rights issues and the privileges certain races, genders, and sexualities are given just by being born the way they are. Some people use it with really cringy context, though, so be careful of that.”

Luke took a second, casting a playful list over at Alex, remembering the time the drummer had used it in such context. He refocused on Flynn, nodding. “Okay, that makes sense. What’s—” Thus started a thirty minute long questioning session, where Flynn just barely breached the idea of social media.

“Wait, so that tiny thing,” Luke motioned to Flynn’s phone, “can do _all that_? How is that even possible!” He looked at Alex and Reggie, whose eyebrows were also raised.

“You know, the fact that Julie was able to look up who we were when we first met should have told us this much,” Alex chimed in, casting his eyes at the ceiling in exasperation.

“Ooohhhh,” Reggie nodded. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

“Wait, so how does the whole ‘poofing’ onto stage thing work? Like, are you playing before we see you or do you start right before or—?” Flynn bounced on her table seat, and eager look on her face.

“We start playing right before poofing, actually. It’s a very short second before, but still there.” Luke nodded, bouncing slightly in his seat as Flynn thought about it.

The boys’ attention was distracted by movement behind Julie. Their narrowed in stares at something behind her tipped her off, and she turned around to look as Flynn continued on happily, unaware of any change.

“So, Luke, I gotta ask, what’s your whole thing with…the….slee—” She cut herself off to look behind, but didn’t see anything. “Okay, what’s everybody looking at?” She crossed her arms with a huff.

“They’re looking at me, darling,” Caleb droned, lifting his head up weakly. He looked in the band’s direction before realizing. “Oh, she can’t see me.”

“She could if you do your magic thing.” Alex scowled at him.

Caleb shook his head, shrugging and giving a semi-apologetic grimace. “No can do, not right now at least.” He blinked a few times, squinting into space and alternating between widening and narrowing his eyes.

Flynn looked at the boys and then at the empty space behind her, realization slowly dawning. “Oh. Caleb’s awake, isn’t he?”

Julie nodded. “Yeah. He is.”

Flynn nodded, clapping her hands together awkwardly. “Right, I’m hungry so I’m going to leave you and your boys to the interrogation while I go get food and bug Carlos.”

Flynn looked back at Julie worriedly one last time, but she wasn’t paying attention to her, her eyes only on Caleb. Flynn’s eyebrows furrowed in concern, but she continued out the studio and up to the house. She opened the door and kicked off her shoes. “Mr. Molina, Carlos, it’s Flynn!”

Ray’s distant call sounded from upstairs. “Hi, Flynn! Make yourself at home.”

Flynn shrugged. She snatched an apple off the island before traipsing to the living room, where Carlos was slouched on the couch staring at his tablet. He looked up when Flynn walked in. “Oh, hey Flynn. Were you just with Julie and the boyband?”

Flynn looked at him, trying to remember if Julie had told her about Carlos knowing. Now that she thought of it, she roughly recalled Julie mentioning something similar offhandedly before moving on. She must not have caught it. She looked at him oddly, settling onto the couch and taking a large bite of her apple before pulling out her phone. “So you know, huh?”

“Yeah. I haven’t met them yet, but I know who they are. Figured it out the night of Julie’s performance at the Orpheum.”

Flynn nodded. “Cool, cool, cool.”

——

“No, you don’t understand. I _never_ would have done that. I was possessed!” Caleb protested, his eyes wide and desperate, his hands weakly clenched. His knuckles were white with the effort and his chest heaving even though he hadn’t said that much.

Luke scoffed. “Yeah, like we’re going to believe that. You enslaved us, Covington. Don’t think we’re going to trust you after that.”

Alex and Reggie nodded. Julie mooshed her lips together, the skin around them paling in her anger at having what Caleb had done to them laid out in the open so plainly. Caleb’s eyes softened and something in them came close to breaking. He hated hearing what the bastard had done in his body, and this was so much worse than he had thought. Sure, the thing was a demon, but enslaving teenagers? Almost destroying them?

He nodded. “I know, I know you won’t believe me. But there’s a _reason_ I’m so weak! The demon, when it possesses you, it _drains_ you! It possessed me three years ago to steal my powers, my ability to make ghosts seen, and it succeeded! It’s going to try and take yours next, I guarantee it.”

“Is that a threat?” Reggie asked, his eyes going hard as he stepped forward.

“No! It’s not! You and your band are powerful, even without the help of Julie. The demon is coming after you next and you’re not prepared for it.” Caleb’s head sagged in exhaustion. Who knew being possessed took this much out of you. He could barely hold a conversation.

Julie nodded. “Mhmm. So, if you were possessed, then you can tell us who the demon possessed after you. Where did it go?”

“I—I can’t.” At the band’s smug, knowing looks, he became defensive. “I wasn’t aware during most of the time I was possessed! I can only remember little snippets of things, and even then not much. You try being possessed and we’ll see how much you can remember.”

“Let’s say we were willing to believe you,” Alex started, “What proof do you have for us? For all we know you’re just telling another lie.”

Caleb shook his head. “I swear I’m not. But I know you don’t believe me. Willie can vouch for me. You trust him, right?” His eyes were desperate as he looked from person to person, trying to get them to _understand_. He didn’t know what else he could do to prove it to them.

Alex scowled. “And why would we bring Willie to you. He’s terrified of you.”

An inscrutable expression flitted through Caleb’s face, gone before they could figure out what it meant. He cleared his throat. “I—I know he must be. But I _have_ to see him. I—he’s the only one that can prove I’m telling the truth, and I need to let him know that I’m back, that he doesn’t _need_ to be scared anymore.”

Alex scoffed but didn’t say anything else.

“Okay, so maybe you’re right and he can prove it, but we haven’t been able to find him since the Orpheum performance, so you’re outta luck.”

“You could probably find him on top of the Hollywood sign,” Caleb suggested, shrugging a little bit. Alex looked at the boys, who grinned supportively. Luke made a shooing motion with his hands and Alex poofed our of the studio.

He misjudged the landing though, so he wound up in the bend of the Y. Alex stumbled for a second, steadying himself by bending his knees slightly and grabbing onto the letter. He cast his eyes around, searching for a glimpse of the long, dark hair, or the cracked grey helmet. He finally found it on top of the D, Willie’s feet swinging as he looked out over the city. Alex poofed next to him.

“Hi.”

Willie jumped, whipping around and almost falling off. Alex chuckled nervously, grabbing onto the other boy to steady him, meeting his eyes. “A—Alex! You’re here! I thought—I thought you…You vanished from Caleb’s club and the Orpheum and I—” Willie broke himself off to pull Alex into a tight hug, clinging to him like he was going to disappear. Which, to be fair, was what Willie had thought had happened.

Alex squeezed him back just as tightly, burying his face in the crook of Willie’s neck and staying there for a few minutes, each of them just soaking in the other’s presence.

Alex pulled back first, even though he would have loved to stay like that forever. “I couldn’t—you were just _nowhere_ and I—I thought maybe you’d been destroyed or—or—” He snuffled, wiping his eyes and casting an assessing glance over Willie to make sure he was really okay.

“I thought that—that you had either been destroyed or passed over and I just—I couldn’t go look for you because I didn’t think you would be there anymore. I wanted to stay away from Julie in case Caleb caught me and went after her so….” Willie gave a helpless shrug. “I’ve just been here for a while.”

Alex smiled softly. He cleared his throat, shifting awkwardly before meeting Willie’s eyes. “Listen, there’s—there’s another thing I wanted to ask you, if it’s okay?”

Willie nodded, his eyes serious. “Anything, Alex, I told you.”

Alex bobbed his head. “Cool, cool, cool.” He cleared his throat again, trying to put what he was about to say off. Eventually, though, he explained that they had found Caleb passed out outside of Julie’s house, and that he was in the studio saying he had been possessed for three years. A certain gleam entered Willie’s eyes, but Alex couldn’t identify the emotion, deciding instead to continue explaining. He finished, saying, “And Caleb thinks that you’ll be able to tell us if it’s true or not, since we trust you.”

Willie nodded, digesting what Alex had told him. A few minutes passed in silence, Alex alternating between twiddling his thumbs and drumming out patterns on his legs with his fingers. Occasionally, he would look up at Willie just to see the skater boy quickly moving his head down.

Eventually, Willie broke the silence. “There—Caleb wasn’t always a _bad_ guy. We were really close. I kinda thought of him as a father, y’know? And then—then around three years ago, things just started to go downhill. It was like he forgot everything he was to me, why he had started the club. Then things kept getting worse, and worse. I didn’t know what happened, he wouldn’t let me in. If he says he was possessed, I’d believe it.” Willie met Alex’s eyes, something in them urging him to understand. Alex’s eyes crinkled in understanding, his hand finding its place on Willie’s shoulder.

“Are you going to be good to come see him in the studio and tell the guys and Julie that?”

Willie nodded. “Yes. Yeah, if Caleb’s back I want— _need_ —to see him.” He smirked then, small and playful as he nudged Alex with his shoulder. “Besides, I still haven’t met this Julie that you and the guys keep talking about.”

Alex grinned. “Alright, well, you know where the studio is, right?”

Willie nodded and they both disappeared with a muted _poof_.

When they arrived in the studio, Luke, Reggie, and Julie jumped to their feet, expectant looks on their faces. When they saw Willie with Alex their faces lit up. Julie stepped forward, going to shake his hand but reconsidering, giving a small, awkward wave instead. “Hi, you’re Willie, right?”

Willie’s eyes widened. Sure, he knew that Julie could see ghosts, but it was one thing to hear it and another to experience it. Alex knocked him on the shoulder and he startled, causing the others to chuckle. “Yeah, that’s me. Hi. You’re Julie?”

Julie nodded. “Yep,” she popped the ‘p’. She looked around the studio awkwardly for a few seconds. “Well, Caleb’s over there. We’ll just…be over in the corner, I guess.”

She led the boys over to the corner, Willie’s eyes only following for a second before he turned to Caleb. He pushed his lips together, his hands in his pockets as he approached. Caleb smiled, that smile that Willie hadn’t seen for three years. The one that said, _I’m here, I’m not leaving_. Willie’s eyes almost teared up from that alone. He sat down on the floor, looking down at it before meeting the older ghost’s eyes. “So….Alex said you were possessed?”

Caleb nodded brokenly. “You _know_ me, Willie. We’ve known each other for forty years. You know I would _never_ do any of those things, I swear.”

“Like the stamp?”

Caleb bobbed his head furiously, leaning forward in earnest. “I value people’s freedom, I would never compromise that with such a barbaric thing.”

Willie smiled bitterly. “Really? Because you took mine away first.”

Caleb gaped, his mouth opening and closing as tears formed in his eyes. “I—he—that _bastard_!” He spit, his face scrunched furiously and his knuckles white with rage.

The others were trying to give them privacy, but it _was_ a small studio, and they couldn’t help but overhear. The genuine emotion behind the expression sent them reeling, for once opening the possibility in their minds that Caleb hadn’t been lying.

Willie’s eyebrows went up and Caleb met his eyes, a pleading look on his face. “I can remove it. I know I can’t ask this of you, but I can remove it if you _trust me_.”

Willie’s eyes bore into his, searching for something, though Caleb didn’t know what. He seemed to find it, though, if the nod he gave was any indication. “I trust you, and I believe you.”

Caleb smiled, his wrist passing through the rope with a weak grimace. He leaned forward, motioning for Willie’s arm. For a second, just a split second, it seemed like Willie was going to rescind the trust, but he haltingly put it forward, meeting Caleb’s eyes.

Caleb’s eyes lit up, barely noticeable but still there, a little bit of the brokenness being glued back together. He phased his other hand out of the ropes and took Willie’s wrist in his hands, pressing in with a gentle force. He closed his eyes, breathing in and out, focusing on what he wanted to do. Willie could tell something was happening. The stamp was burning, a good kind of pain. Like when you manage to massage a charlie horse away, or are sore after a hard day’s work.

Caleb removed his hands, and Willie watched as the purple mark that had been holding him captive for three years rose off of his skin and into the air, dissipating in a cloud of black-tinted sparkles. That feeling he had been stuck with—the feeling of always being watched, of having a collar wrapped around him just out of reach, but there to strangle him if he went too far—it disappeared with the stamp.

He met Caleb’s eyes, both of them wet with tears. Willie lunged forward and pulled the man into a hug, clutching him tight and ignoring the awkward position the chair forced him to take. Caleb returned it weakly, but no less emphatically.

They stayed like that for a few moments before Willie pulled back, wiping tears from his eyes, a bright, wet smile on his face. He turned to the band, a laugh spilling out as he looked back at Caleb. Willie looked back, their faces covered in confusion.

“You good, bro?” Luke asked, taking a small step forward.

Willie nodded, meeting Alex’s eyes and then looking at the others. “Yeah, I—I really am. I’m great, actually. And you don’t need to worry, Caleb is who he says he is. I trust without a doubt that he was possessed.” His face melted into one of solemn concern, then, as he sighed, “And that means you have a demon problem.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know your thoughts! Even if it’s just with the kudos button! If you’ve already left kudos, then that’s fine! And be sure to subscribe for more, because things are just getting started. Hope y’all are happy, healthy, and safe and have a lovely day!


	3. Research and Cuddles, the Best Way to Spend the Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn shrugged, an understanding twist to her lips as her head see-sawed side to side slowly for a second. “Alright, I guess that makes sense. Still don’t know how a ghost can be possessed, though. I thought _they_ were the ones doing the possessing.”
> 
> Luke scoffed. “We pass through every lifer we touch, we can’t possess anything.”
> 
> Reggie nodded. “Yeah. Besides, Caleb said he was possessed by a demon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! This thing was a beast so I hope you all enjoy. There’s a lot of great things in this chapter, but tbh I wrote it like a week ago so my memory’s a bit foggy. Either way, I hope you all enjoy!

Julie and the boys had left to go talk—presumably about the demon situation and to decompress from the excitement of that mornings events—in her room. While leaving, Julie made an off-hand comment that Willie and Caleb could stay in the studio for now while Caleb gathered enough strength to return to his club.

Caleb had chosen to sink into the couch to relax, and he gave Willie a teasing smile. “So. Alex, huh?”

Willie blushed—as much as a dead person with no blood flow _could_ blush—and shrugged his shoulders, looking at the floor. “He’s, uh—he’s really great. Really nice.”

“And cute,” Caleb added knowingly. His eyes softened. “I’m happy for you, Willie, I am. You two definitely deserve each other. And,” he added, his eyes twinkling mischievously, “I have it on good authority that he likes you back. He’s very protective of you, and I appreciate that.”

Willie groaned. “Caleb, no.”

Caleb shrugged weakly. “Hey, you know I’m going to do my best to look out for you, even if I haven’t done the best job recently.” His smile turned bitter as he thought about what Willie must have gone through the past three years.

“Hey, no,” Willie chided, his eyes serious. “You don’t get to do that to yourself. It’s not your fault. And I know you’re going to have a hard time truly believing that, so I’m going to nail it into your skull for as long as it takes.”

“Thanks, Willie,” Caleb drawled dryly. He leaned his head back, closing his eyes and mimicking a deep breath even though he didn’t need it.

Willie laughed, a pure, happy note. “Anytime.”

——

“Sooooo….” Flynn drew out awkwardly, not quite sure where to go now that Carlos revealed that he knew. She took a monch of her apple, chewing slowly and looking at him out of the corner of her eye.

“I think I’m going to take up ghost hunting,” Carlos decided after a second.

Flynn nearly choked, the apple almost spilling out of her mouth in surprise. “Wh—what? Why the he—eeeeeck would you do that?”

Carlos smirked, his eyes telling her she hadn’t covered her slip very well, and shrugged. “There can’t only be good ghosts, can there? I wanna keep my sister safe. Plus, ghosts are _cool_. Obviously I’m going to want to learn more.”

Flynn nodded. “Fair point. But how are you going to find stuff about ghost hunting? We already know salt doesn’t work. There’s bound to be a lot of phonies that claim they know how to ghost hunt.”

Carlos opened his mouth to respond, but paused, seeming to realize he didn’t quite have the answer yet. “That….is a good point. I guess testing things on the boys isn’t possible, is it.”

Flynn raised an eyebrow, a clear ‘No _duh_ ’ on her face. Carlos grimaced, shrugging innocently.

“I’ll figure it out,” he said confidently.

“Uh huh,” Flynn said skeptically, a poised eyebrow rising.

Carlos grinned at her. They both looked at the door when they heard it open, the telltale sound of Tía Victoria’s cheerful greeting ringing through the room. She came into the living room, a sunny smile on her face as she greeted Carlos with a kiss and Flynn with a hug.

“¿ _Qué paso, mijo_? Flynn! Is Julie here?”

Flynn nodded. “Yeah, she’s upstairs doing homework. Do you want me to go get her?”

Victoria waved a hand. “Eh, it’s fine. I do not want to distract her from her schoolwork.”

Flynn smiled. “Alright! I’m gonna go join her, though. Nice to see you, Tía!”

Victoria smiled warmly. “And you, niña. Good luck with homework.”

Flynn nodded with a commiserating smile, getting up and walking to the stairs. Before moving out of earshot, though, she heard Carlos inform Victoria that he was going to become a ghost hunter, isn’t that cool, Tía?

Flynn chuckled, shaking her head and climbing the stairs quickly. Unlike usual, she knocked when she got to Julie’s room, calling out, “I’m not gonna walk in on any funny business, am I?”

Julie’s exasperated groan of, “Flyyyynnnnnn, _why_?” was clear through the wall, causing the girl to laugh. She opened the door, peaking in with faux caution before nodding her head as though was she saw was suitable.

What she saw was actually adorable, to be honest.

Julie was laying on her back, her knees bent. Luke had his head on her torso, his body diagonal to hers and his arms up under his head. Alex had his head on Luke’s thighs, his eyes narrowed in relaxation and his legs going over Julie’s feet. Reggie had his head by Julie, his legs on top of Alex’s and his arms folded on his stomach. Julie peeked open an eye, looking at Flynn saltily.

Flynn smiled without remorse, sitting down next to Luke’s feet. “So what happened with Caleb?” She asked, resting her arms on top of her knees, which were pulled up to her chest. She looked at Julie imploringly.

Julie shrugged, a somewhat helpless look in her eyes as her fingers carded through Luke’s hair. “Apparently, Caleb was possessed.”

Flynn twisted her lips in confusion. “Ghosts can be possessed?”

Julie only shrugged again. “His story checks out. And someone that the boys trust vouched for him, so I’ll trust him too.”

Flynn shrugged, an understanding twist to her lips as her head see-sawed side to side slowly for a second. “Alright, I guess that makes sense. Still don’t know how a ghost can be possessed, though. I thought _they_ were the ones doing the possessing.”

Luke scoffed. “We pass through every lifer we touch, we can’t possess anything.”

Reggie nodded. “Yeah. Besides, Caleb said he was possessed by a demon.”

Alex’s eyebrows crinkled and his lips pursed. “Which is somewhat horrifying when you think about it, actually. I mean, yeah, we knew there were ghosts, but this means there’s a Heaven and a Hell, and there are demons and probably angels too, not to mention Satan and God, and then you have to think about all of the texts that are out there claiming they’ve seen Heaven and Hell, and you have to wonder which ones are true, I mean—”

Luke interrupted him by lifting his thigh and jostling Alex’s head. “Dude. Focus. We can answer all of those questions later.” He looked up and shared a grin with Julie, whose eyes were twinkling with humor.

Flynn snorted. “Alright, lovebirds, we get it.”

Luke gained a bit of color, his version of a flush, and sputtered incoherently. Julie glared at Flynn, sniffing and turning her head up. “For your information, I am cuddling with them all _equally_.”

“Yeah, sure.” She switched topics, getting up to go plop into Julie’s saucer chair. “So, now that you believe Caleb, what’re you gonna do?”

Julie shrugged, exchanging a helpless look with the boys. “I dunno. I mean, I guess we let him go back to the club?”

Reggie nodded. “He probably has a lot of damage control to do, and he seemed pretty weak. He’s probably going to spend a lot of time recovering.”

Luke inclined his head a little, trying not to jostle Julie by nodding too much. “Yeah, and then we can go check on him tomorrow or something.”

Julie sighed, realizing she probably had to get up to tell Caleb that. Flynn, noticing her distress laughed and waved a hand. “I gotchu, girl. I may not be able to see them, but they can see me, so I’ll go tell them that they can leave when the dude feels like he can.” She got up, waving when she left.

The boys gave various movements in return to the wave, and Julie just tilted her head up and down, careful not to displace the boy on her stomach. Flynn shook her head, smiling to herself and shutting the door.

When she got back downstairs Carlos and Tía were both gone, and she spared a brief moment of thought to wonder where they had gotten off to.

——

Caleb had fallen asleep, leaving Willie to relax on the couch, scrolling through the phone Caleb had obtained through some mysterious means before everything had gone to hell. His attention was drawn from the screen by the creak of the studio doors opening, a girl peaking her head in before stepping inside. A brief glance to the chair Caleb had decided to sleep in showed the older ghost blinking awake, looking curiously at the girl.

The girl cleared her throat, Adam’s apple bobbing. “I dunno if you’re actually here since I can’t see you, but Julie said you two were most likely still in here so here goes. Julie and the boys have decided that you’re free to go back to your club and do damage control or something, and said they’d probably check on you today or tomorrow. So…uh. Yeah. Bye!” She twisted sharply on her heels, her many ebony braids whirling behind her.

Caleb and Willie shared amused glances as Willie pushed himself off of the couch and over to help Caleb. He stood up, hunched over and kind of wobbly, but grabbed onto Willie’s shoulder to support himself as they _poof_ ed away.

They landed in Caleb’s study, teetering a little as Caleb lost balance and stumbled over to his chair. He pinched the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes and leaning back before his eyes snapped open. He looked at Willie in a panic. “Those stamps—”

“Yeah?” Willie asked hesitantly, sitting down on the footrest.

“Are they on everyone in the club?” Caleb questioned, his eyes intense and pleading.

Willie grimaced and nodded. “Yeah, they, um…they are. On everyone, that is, guests included. The demon wanted everyone to know they were under his control, and that he _owned_ them. He could control everything we did, and he reminded us of that whenever he felt that we forgot.”

Caleb’s face fell as Willie talked. He cleared his throat roughly. “Guess we’ll just need to fix that, then, won’t we?” He pushed himself up, latching onto Willie to balance himself and pulling him toward the door of his study. When they got to the landing overseeing the club, the partygoers, the performers, the staff, he smiled. He closed his eyes, reaching for the bond he felt with every one of them through that thrice damned stamp, and snapped it like a twig.

He opened his eyes to gasps, cries of relief, as dozens of glowing purple stamps floated into the air and disappeared in a cloud of black sparkles. Caleb smiled, seeing the people of his club pull each other into hugs and the performers begin again with a new vigor.

This.

This was why he made the club.

He waited until they were done before calling everyone’s attention. His good mood fell some, when he saw everyone’s masked looks of terror when they realized he was there. He recovered quickly, though, smiling brightly. “By now you’ve all noticed that your stamps have vanished. I removed them. Those of you who have been with me and the club for a while know that I wasn’t always like this, and that it started three years ago. The reason I changed so drastically is this: I was possessed.”

He held his hand up, stopping them before the murmurs could really start. “The problem has been taken care of, however. I know that most, if not all of you, must no longer trust me, and if you want to leave the club then know that you do so with my blessing. I will be sad to see you go, but I will not hold you from your freedom or afterlife—or life—any longer. I will have to work to regain your trust, and I accept that, I only wish that you give me the chance to do so. That’s all, and for right now I ask that I not be disturbed for a couple of days as I regain the strength that was lost these past three years.”

When they realized he was done, loud whoops and cheers arose, people showing their continued support and their happiness that he was _back_. He grinned brightly, glad that they all seemed to still believe in him, before turning around and heading back up to his study and the couch. He didn’t have a bed since ghosts weren’t supposed to need them, but his couch was high-end and would serve well for the purpose he needed it for.

Willie came in and hugged him tightly, holding onto him until he slipped off in exhaustion.

——

Julie’s thoughts had been on the demon all day, and she hadn’t been able to pay attention to any of her classes. It would be just her luck for the demon to attack the boys or something while she was at school and unable to do anything, and she had been worrying about it all day and annoying Flynn. Fortunately, it was near the end of the day, and all she had to do was get some things from her locker before she and Flynn could walk home.

“Lighten up, girl, I’m sure they’re fine,” Flynn assured, struggling to stuff a binder into her backpack. Julie nodded, pulling out a sweatshirt. “Yeah, yeah, I know they probably are. It’s just, I can’t help thinking—”

Flynn looked up and her eyes widened as she interrupted Julie. “Demon in coming.” At Julie’s panicked face she realized her mistake and rushed to correct, “I meant Carrie! Carrie incoming! Sorry.” She gave a nervous chuckle and zipped up her backpack, slinging it over her shoulder.

Julie turned around, her sweatshirt halfway on, just in time to see Carrie only a foot away from her. “Ah!” She yelped, her hand going to the locker behind her to steady herself. She gave Carrie a stained smile. “Carrie. Hi.”

Carrie cleared her throat awkwardly, her arms folded as she avoided eye contact.

Julie waited a few seconds, shifting from foot to foot as she waited for Carrie to say something, _anything_ , but she stayed silent. Julie cleared her throat and shared a look with Flynn. “Sooo….what’s up?”

Carrie’s lips turned just slightly down as she took a deep breath in, muttering, “Good job at the Orpheum.”

Julie’s eyebrows shot up as she and Flynn exchanged surprised glances. She turned back to Carrie, twisting her fingers together. “Thanks, Carrie.”

Carrie gave a sharp nod, turned on her heel, and strode away, leaving Julie and Flynn watching after her in confusion. Flynn poked Julie in the shoulder. “Uh, did that really just happen?”

Julie nodded silently before coughing. “Yeah, I—I think it did.”

Flynn narrowed her eyes after Carrie’s retreating figure before shrugging. “Well, maybe she’s the one possessed.”

Julie shook her head. “I don’t think so. Why would the demon take the time to say I did a good job?”

“Fair, fair. Anyway, let’s go. We were going to go check on Caleb, right?”

Julie nodded, pushing the confrontation with Carrie out of her mind for now. “Yeah, let’s go.” She finished putting on her sweatshirt and slung her backpack over her shoulder, turning around and walking out of school, Flynn following.

——

They met the boys at Julie’s house. Flynn and Julie told Ray that they were going to do some research at the library (“I thought all the young people nowadays did it over their phones?” “Yeah, but we want the atmosphere”).

The walk to the Hollywood Ghost Club flew by. The boys made themselves visible so that people wouldn’t go after the girls, safety in numbers and all. Julie was holding hands with both Flynn and Luke, swinging their arms exaggeratedly as Luke did the same to Reggie and Reggie did the same to Alex. It drew a few odd looks, but they were having fun, so they all made the collective decision to ignore them.

The boys led Julie and Flynn to the main area, where they had first looked down into the club and felt the atmosphere. It was different, now, so much more joyous, with more _energy_.

Willie met them, a bright, happy grin on his face. He took Alex’s hand. “Come on, Caleb’s expecting you.”

Alex laughed. “You’re happy.”

Willie nodded. “I have Caleb back! These past three years have been horrible, you have no idea. Come on, he has something he wants to show you guys.” He was already dragging Alex away, so he didn’t see the apprehensive looks the others exchanged, but they followed him anyway. Julie pulled Flynn along since she had no clue what was going on, only seeing Alex being dragged away.

The boys hadn’t been to this part of the club. It was two floors up, and seemed to be a main room kind of place, with a staircase disappearing behind a wall. Caleb was sitting in a chair at the far end of the room, a deep eggplant colored chair that was large and swiveled. He smiled when he saw the group enter, his eyes crinkling. “I’m glad you make it, even though I know it was just to make sure I wasn’t getting up to anything.”

Flynn gaped at his form, of which she could see a vague outline, and she could _hear_ him. Caleb noticed this and offered her a nod, forcing himself to stand and walk over to the staircase.

“I figured that you would want to find out as much about demons as you can, so I’m offering you access to my library.” He gestured with his head for them to follow him up the staircase, but they only followed once Willie did.

Julie couldn’t help but gasp when they walked into the room. The library was huge, shelves of books going all the way up to the ceiling, which had to be at least thirty feet up in the air. She couldn’t help but turn around, her head tilted up as she tried to take in the pure mass of the room. The floor was decorated with blanket and pillow nests, a table that could seat nine people, and various chairs and couches spread around.

Caleb waved a hand in invitation. “It’s sorted using a minor spell. That book on the table has an index of all various topics, all organized alphabetically, with a list of their related books underneath, also organized alphabetically. Simply call the name of the book you wish for, and it will come to you.”

Willie snorted. “Careful, though, some of the books with more attitude like to try and catch you by surprise.”

Julie laughed. “I’ll try not to get brained by a book, then.”

Caleb picked up a book by one of the couches, sitting down and opening the large tome up, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Julie noticed his movements were still a little shaky, but they weren’t as unsure as the day prior.

Julie, Flynn, and Alex began looking through the index book for any books about demons. They each gathered three to five different titles before joining Willie, Luke, and Reggie, who had all gone to the biggest blanket nest, on top of a large, circular mattress. They each picked a book, Flynn picked a leather-bound journal, and settled in.

Half an hour passed and they had all rearranged themselves in various positions. Luke and Julie had their heads close together, both laid back completely, Julie with her knees bent. Flynn’s feet went under Julie’s leg, since she was curled up on her right side against a couple of fluffy pillows. Alex was propped up against several other pillows, and Wille was laid out so that his feet were on top of Alex. Reggie had his head on Luke’s thigh and his feet against Alex’s side.

Luke occasionally reached over to run his thumb along Julie’s hand or run his fingers through Reggie’s hair, taking a break from reading.

Flynn furrowed her eyebrows, mouthing what she was reading to herself. She hadn’t really thought that she would find anything in such a small journal, but the small passage she was reading seemed like it could be important. “ _Having completed my meaning for ghost hood and growing in my power, I found myself presented with a ritual. My skin became warm and my heart began beating, the chill of death chased away_.” It couldn’t be saying what she thought it was saying, could it? She looked at the others, her heart pounding a quick rhythm in her chest, before tucking the journal into her shirt and grabbing another book, settling in again.

Reggie disturbed the peaceful scene, bolting upright and causing several people to drop their books (Luke dropped his on his face, unfortunately). “Guys! I think I found something!”

Julie turned to him, propping herself up on her elbows. “What’d you find?”

“Listen to this,” Reggie cleared his throat, his finger following the lines as he read them, “‘ _Due to their infernal nature (residing in Hell), there is an inherent disconnect between the living and the demonic. Therefore, in order to possess a human being, a demon must first possess a ghost, the bridge between the living and the dead_.’ That’s important, right?”

Luke smiled, shaking Reggie’s shoulder. “Great job dude! So now we know he’s probably possessing someone alive, right?”

Alex nodded. “Now we just have to figure out who.”

Caleb, who had put his book down to listen to what Reggie had discovered, chimed in, “It’s most likely that he possessed someone relatively close to Julie, since it’s her and the band he’s after.”

Alex gulped, his hands going clammy as he looked around the group. “How do we know he didn’t possess one of us?”

Caleb cocked his head, considering that. “I read about something called a devil’s trap. A demon can go in, but can’t get out.”

“Like in ‘Hotel California’!” Luke said in understanding.

Flynn gave a barking laugh. “Oh my god, you are so old.” She ignored Luke’s indignant cry of ‘ _Hey!_ ’, turning her attention to Caleb. “So, what, we make one of these trap things and have each of us walk in and out of it?”

Caleb shrugged. “It couldn’t hurt. And, afterward, to protect from any further possession attempts, I have a trunk full of anti-possession charms.”

Julie raised a skeptical eyebrow, her arms crossed. “Why would you have a trunk full of anti-possession charms, but not use them?”

Caleb grimaced. “I thought of them as trinkets, not really useful. I find myself regretting that mindset now.”

Reggie snorted. “I bet.”

Willie laughed bitterly under his breath. “So, what do we need to do?”

Caleb snapped his fingers, a book flying down from one of the very top shelves and slamming into his waiting arms. He flipped through it hastily, searching for the page he was thinking of, until he finally finds it, a triumphant quirk of his lips painting his face. “Here.” He turned the book so the others could see it, his fingers pointing to a design on one of the pages. “We just need to draw this on something and it works.”

Julie studied it for a second, leaning back. “Do you have anything to draw with?”

Another sharp snap of his fingers and a can of white paint and a paintbrush appeared in front of him. “Put it somewhere that won’t clash with the décor, please.” He smirked, presenting her with the book to go off of. She looked around, picking up the can and brush and deciding on a spot.

After about ten minutes, a freshly painted devil’s trap laid on one of the few un-rugged areas in the library, a spot people would have to walk over frequently. They waited another ten minutes for it to dry. Luke reached over and thumbed a streak of white paint off of Julie’s cheek with a smile. She smiled back at him and returned to what she had been reading.

Eventually, the paint was dry. Caleb went first, stepping in and out swiftly, Willie following. The boys went one by one, and then Flynn and Julie did it. Julie couldn’t help heaving a huge sigh of relief, the knot of tension that had been introduced at the possibility one of them was possessed loosening.

“You said something about anti-possession charms?” Alex asked, after they were all given a moment to be relieved none of them were possessed.

Caleb nodded. He turned around, his step faltering slightly, and walked over to a wall next to one of the shelves. He rapped on it with two quick staccato beats, a section of the wall sliding away to reveal an ornate trunk made of mahogany with gold accents. Wille hurried over to help him drag it back to the group. Caleb fiddled with it for a second before it popped open, exposing the contents as jewelry of all different types and styles.

Julie had to look away for a second when the light reflecting off some of the jewels momentarily blinded her. She turned back to see Caleb gesture to the contents grandly. “Help yourselves,” he purred.

Alex swiftly found a bracelet he liked, a simple metal band with a pink hue and silver lining. Julie sifted through the contents a bit, none of them striking her as something she would want to wear, either too grand or too odd-looking. She grinned when she found a beautiful anklet, though; it was made of braided silver, gold, and rose gold thread with alternating rose gold charms of music notes and stars.

Reggie held up a pair of earrings, one a black droplet and the other a deep burgundy metal that climbed only the lobe of the ear in a twisting pattern of sharp edges. He pinched his earlobes and looked at the earrings with a frown, but his face swiftly lit up with a mischievous spark. “I need someone to pierce my ears.”

Everyone stopped in their movement to stare at him. Luke laughed. “You need someone to what?”

Reggie shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to wear earrings, and this is the perfect pair. I don’t think I could pierce my own ears, though, so I need someone else to do it.”

Flynn shrugged, an understanding look on her face. “I’ll do it, just let me find mine first.” She turned to Caleb. “Do you have the stuff to do it here?”

Caleb shrugged, an amused grin on his face. “I should. I’ll get it once you all are done.”

Flynn nodded and went back to looking through the trunk. Alex and Luke exchanged bewildered glances that were tinted with amusement.

Eventually, everyone found their own piece to wear. Something that wasn’t out of character for them to wear and therefore wouldn’t be pegged by the demon as the anti-possession charm immediately. Luke had decided on a ring, a simple silver band with a glittering blue stone the color of the ocean depths. Flynn picked a simple necklace with a glittering silver chain and small, old-fashioned looking key that only went to her collarbone.

Willie’s bracelet was an inverse of Alex’s, made mostly of silver but with rose gold lining along the edges. Caleb had found a large, class-ring type band made from shadowcast metal with a deep eggplant colored gem. Julie made sure to pick out bracelets for Carlos, Tía, and her papi.

Flynn took Reggie to a side room to pierce his ears, returning ten minutes later, Reggie sporting the earrings he had picked out with a grin.

Julie flipped through the book she had out absentmindedly while Caleb and Willie put the trunk back where it came from. She focused, though, when she came across an explanation. “I think I found something,” she called. The group crowded around her and she read out the passage. “‘ _Of the many types of demons, there are four levels that make up a hierarchy. The first are bottom feeders, known colloquially as_ bottoms.” She broke off, hiding the small uptilt of her lips while playfully glaring at the boys, who had started laughing. She cleared her throat, speaking loudly at first to get them to pay attention again.

“‘ _Bottoms are demons that were once humans. Humans who died and went to Hell, their souls so black with corruption they were able to transition to demons. They have minimal power, and are responsible primarily for many of the minor inconveniences people experience._

“‘ _The second level is the demons of the crossroads. These demons hail mostly from Hell, but some bottoms are so despicable that they able to rise through the ranks and achieve crossroad status. crossroad demons are known for making deals with the living, promising whatever someone wants in return for their soul in Hell. The goal of the crossroad demon is to drag as many souls to Hell as is possible._

“‘ _The third level of demon are made primarily of The Seven Deadly Sins as well as other well-known chaos demons. These are creatures born of Hell, their only jobs on the living plane to wreak havoc on minor levels and to tempt humans onto the path to the infernal plane._

“‘ _The fourth level, the most powerful, are composed of the Princes of Hell and the four horsemen. These are beings whose sole purpose is to cause destruction of magnificent proportions. They are rarely active, only breaching onto the Earthly plane when called forth. Most of their time is spent in Hell, performing tasks they deem more important_.’” Julie looked up. “So your demon is probably a bottom feeder, right?”

Caleb shook his head. “No, I’ve interacted with bottom feeders before, but this one was too powerful. I would say it was a crossroads demon, or _maybe_ a very powerful bottom feeder.”

Julie sighed. “Great.” She looked over at the clock, her eyes widening when she saw the time. “Crap, I should probably get home. Thank you for letting us use your library, Caleb, and for the anti-possession charms.”

Caleb only smiled sadly, nodding and waving them out the door. “You’re welcome back whenever you wish.”

——

“What is this about ghost hunting, _mijo_?” Victoria asked, sitting down on the couch. Ray was in the other room working, so she felt this was the best time to hold the conversation.

“So there are good ghosts, right? But obviously there are bad ghosts too, and I wanna know how to catch them! Not many people believe in ghosts, so it’s my job to keep them safe,” Carlos declared, puffing out his chest.

“But, Carlos, you’re only eleven. I’m sure there are others out there who believe in ghosts and will keep people safe,” Victoria assured. Honestly, Carlos was a child, and if ghosts actually existed—and the little spectacle in the living room had certainly convinced her—then he was too young to be putting himself in danger like that.

“Well, yeah, but no one in our area! It’s up to me.” Carlos met her eyes, his own steely with determination. She could tell he wasn’t going to back down on this.

Victoria nodded reluctantly. “Alright, but only if you keep me in the loop, Carlos. I don’t want you getting hurt. Besides,” she added with an amused smile, “I’m not only good for mi _arroz con pollo y pasteles_.”

Carlos laughed. They both turned when the door opened, Julie stepping in, her face scrunched up in thought. When she spotted Carlos and Tía her face evened out as she approached to greet them.

“I got you something!” Julie said, handing one of the anti-possession bracelets to Tía and then to Carlos, who took it with a scrunched nose. She pulled Tía into a hug, mouthing, _“I’ll explain later,”_ to Carlos, unbeknownst to Victoria.

Carlos narrowed his eyes but accepted it. Julie pulled out of the hug, heading into the room where her dad was. Carlos could hear her greet him and then, a few moments later, his surprised thanks, most likely at receiving the bracelet.

Carlos inspected the bracelet before slipping it onto his wrist with a shrug, the simple thread not bothering him much. Julie said she would explain, so he would corner her later, but she was probably going to talk to her ghost boys in the studio or her room. Carlos would leave her alone for now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was it? Let me know! I live for comments and kudos and all that other wonderful stuff. Makes me get all warm and gushy inside.  
> Anyway, you can go yell at me on tumblr!  
> my main: blerghfish  
> my jatp fan account: julie-and-the-phat-ones  
> my ask account: askcaleb-themagician  
> That’s right, I’m running the Caleb ask blog (it’s so much fun omg). Go shoot me (him) an ask or something! They make my life more interesting and fun. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you all for watching, you wonderful, beautiful people. I deeply appreciate it and I appreciate you reading all 5400 words of this chapter


	4. The Truth About Ghosts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I really don’t miss school,” Luke mused, staring up at the building.
> 
> “Me either,” Reggie laughed.
> 
> The bell rang inside and students came flooding out, talking about various things. The boys only had to wait a few moments until Julie and Flynn came walking out. They looked around to make sure no one was watching and focused on making themselves visible. 
> 
> “Hey guys!” Julie greeted, one hand holding onto the strap of her backpack as she bounced a little. Flynn waved at them and they all started the walk back to Julie’s house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! I hope you all enjoy this new update. If there are any formatting errors, typos, etc., please let me know because I may or may not have not been able to see anything while formatting because my eyes were too watery 😂 This one has some pretty funny moments, imo, so let me know what you thought of them!
> 
> If this is your first time reading, know that I have other works for JatP as well, so go check those out to tide you over (I’m also currently working on two others, so look out for those!)
> 
> Anyway, I enjoyed this one, and I hope you all do too!

Julie came downstairs, ruffling Carlos’ hair as she passed on the way to get breakfast. He scowled at her, sniffling through his stuffy nose and turning back to the tv, where scenes from ghost hunters were lighting up the screen. “Feel better,” Julie called as she walked out the door. Carlos _hmph_ ed and turned back to the tv, trying to take note on all of the methods they were using. Maybe some would actually work.

It was worth a try, at least.

——

Julie scowled at her notebook. Chemistry wasn’t a horrible class, but this one equation just wasn’t working out right and she couldn’t figure out how to balance it properly. Even better, she had been stuck sitting next to Carrie since she had arrived a bit late—no other seats were open.

The dread she had felt when she sat down next to Carrie had somewhat dissipated, since Carrie hadn’t made any moves or comments the entire class. Julie was a little confused, but right now all she could focus on was this equation. She had one more problem left on the worksheet and then she could turn it in and have no homework for the class. The rest of the class were working with the people they were sitting next to, but that wouldn’t really work for Julie.

She was surprised, though, when Carrie quickly leaned over and scribbled a 6 in front of the potassium bromide (KBr) on the right side of the equation before returning to her worksheet. She wrote down one last number and got up to turn it in, leaving Julie gaping after her in confusion.

For the rest of class, Julie kept side-eyeing Carrie in an attempt to get her to say something, but she remained stubbornly silent, as if nothing had happened. When the bell rang, Julie hurried to her next class, precalc with Flynn.

Flynn’s eyebrows rose in amused surprised when Julie rushed into class and plopped her backpack down, not even bothering to get out her materials before turning to Flynn. “Carrie was actually nice to me in chem? She helped me finish my worksheet but she didn’t say anything and I’m kind of confused because there’s this and then when she said I did a good job at the Orpheum?”

Flynn’s eyes narrowed as she considered it. “ _Carrie_ helped you?”

Julie nodded, finally reaching down to get her binder and pencil out of her backpack. They still had a few minutes before class started. “Yeah, and she didn’t say anything about it! No rubbing it in my face, no anything! Just pretended it never happened! You don’t think she’s trying to…apologize? In her own way, do you?”

Flynn shook her head. “I bet she’s just playing the long game. Setting you up or something.”

Julie cocked her head as the warning bell rang. “Are you sure? She hasn’t tried to do that before, why would she now?”

Flynn shrugged. “Who knows what goes on in her head. I would stay on your guard, though.”

Julie sighed, taking a second to make sure she had her homework out and fiddle with it. “Great, as if I need more things to worry about.”

Flynn’s eyes softened. “Right, the demon thing. How’re you doing with that, anyway?”

“As well as I can.” Julie gave a half-hearted shrug, her lips pursed slightly.

“Alright, class, make sure you have your homework out. I’m going to come around and check it,” the teacher called out. Julie and Flynn exchanged looks before paying attention to the lesson. Unfortunately, while Flynn was pretty good at precalc, this unit was one they were both struggling with, so they couldn’t afford to not pay attention.

Though Julie couldn’t help but worry about everything going on. Including Nick. He had said he was still okay with being dance partners, but he had been really distant and it seemed like he was ignoring Julie. It was a little unsettling, though, because anytime she was in a room with him, or could see him in the hallways, she swore he was looking at her when she wasn’t paying attention.

She was probably just being paranoid, though, she realized, turning her attention back to the lesson.

——

Since the boys no longer needed to go to school, but couldn’t practice while Julie wasn’t home, they found themselves looking for other ways to spend their copious free time. Alex spent a lot of time with Willie, Reggie could often be found haunting Ray, and Luke used the time to explore and write lyrics or come up with melodies.

Since finding out about the demon, however, they figured it would be best to stick together. This led to them walking around the city during the day, passing the time until they were supposed to meet Julie at school and walk home with her to hang out.

“You know,” Alex started, his hands in his pockets as they walked, “Since he was possessed, then technically the jolts weren’t Caleb’s fault.”

Luke sighed, looking over at Alex and nodding. “Yeah, I know. But the thing still had his face on when he did it.”

Reggie nodded. “It’s gonna be a little hard to get over that, even if he isn’t at fault.”

“Yeah, you’re right. But maybe we could try and learn to trust him?” Alex suggested, shrugging a little. “I mean, Willie obviously does, and I trust him. He wouldn’t do anything to us again.”

Luke smirked. “Oh yeah? And how are you and Willie going?” He and Reggie shared matching mischievous grins.

Alex sputtered. “It’s fine—we’re not—I don’t know what you’re talking about—and nothing has—” he broke off with a sigh and rueful smile. “Nothing has happened yet, too much excitement. Maybe sometime soon, though.”

Luke smiled, reaching over to grasp Alex’s shoulder and shove him playfully. “Soon. You two are, like, meant to be.”

“You guys have just as much chemistry as Julie and Luke, and that’s saying something,” Reggie laughed.

Luke shouldered Reggie, pouting. “Hey!”

Alex laughed loudly. “What, you know it’s true.”

Luke shrugged, his lips twisted funnily. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Oh ho ho!” Reggie shoved Luke back. “The baby is whipped!”

Luke scowled. “You’re the youngest, so you’re the baby!”

“Yeah, but you’re short,” Alex teased, ruffling Luke’s hair.

“Oh come on!” Luke whined. “It’s not my fault the two of you shot up like beanpoles in sophomore year! I used to be tall!”

“Yeah, ‘used to’,” Reggie retorted. “Anyway, you and Julie are cute together. When’re you gonna make a move?”

Luke shrugged. “I dunno. I mean, there’s this whole demon shebang going on and I’m _dead_ , so it’s not like there could be much of a relationship anyway. There are probably dozens of lifers that would date her.”

Alex frowned. “Yeah, but dude, she is clearly into you. You’d have to be the king of obliviousness to not notice, bro. Besides, you don’t know what could happen, and you should take the time you have with her.”

 _I should know that better than anyone_ , Luke thought bitterly, thinking of his mom. He laughed shakily. “Yeah, you could be right. I don’t know, we’ll see what happens.”

Reggie and Alex shook their heads, exchanging exasperated glances over Luke’s head. Alex looked at his watch. “We should probably poof over to Julie now.”

Reggie and Luke nodded, quickly following behind Alex when he _poof_ ed away. When they landed in front of the school, it was still a few minutes before school would let out, so they waited by the steps for Julie and Flynn to walk out.

“I really don’t miss school,” Luke mused, staring up at the building.

“Me either,” Reggie laughed.

The bell rang inside and students came flooding out, talking about various things. The boys only had to wait a few moments until Julie and Flynn came walking out. They looked around to make sure no one was watching and focused on making themselves visible.

“Hey guys!” Julie greeted, one hand holding onto the strap of her backpack as she bounced a little. Flynn waved at them and they all started the walk back to Julie’s house.

The walk was comfortable, banter being tossed back and forth. They were halfway away from the house, Luke punching Reggie on the shoulder. “Screw you, dude! I can be intimidating!”

Alex scoffed. “Julie can be intimidating. _Flynn_ or _Reggie_ can be intimidating—though you wouldn’t think Reggie could. You’re about as intimidating as one of those really tiny kittens that’s been drenched to the bone.”

Julie giggled, nodding her head in agreement even as Reggie and Flynn cackled.

Luke gaped indignantly. “How rude! Why are you both coming after _me_ today?”

“But you make it so easy,” Flynn smirked, darting out of Luke’s reach before he could retaliate.

He pouted, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “You’re all so mean to me.”

Julie scoffed, kicking at the cement a little bit and patting Luke on the shoulder mockingly. “It’s alright, it’s not your fault you’re so easy to make fun of.”

Luke sniffed. He looked at the sidewalk for a few minutes before looking up with a curious smile, a hint of mischief present by the twinkle in his eye. “So have you thought about what you’re going to tell your dad? We probably can’t go about this demon thing without him getting at least a little concerned.”

Julie sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I was worried about.”

“What if we told him?” Reggie suggested.

“I—why would we do that?” Julie looked at him.

“What?” Reggie threw his hands up a little, bouncing as he walked and pulling Luke into his side. “Since we can become visible now, you won’t even have to prep a performance like you did for Flynn, and he’s a really cool dude.”

“I—that’s actually not a bad idea.” Julie stared at him a little, shaking her head and returning to looking at the things they were walking by.

Reggie sniffed in offense. “I’m not _that_ stupid.”

“We know you’re not,” Alex reassured.

“Yeah, dude. None of us are stupid, we just have different ways of thinking.” Luke reached up and ruffled Reggie’s hair, ducking away and to Julie’s side before Reggie could smack him in rebuttal.

Luke bounced on his toes a little, pulling Julie in for a side hug even as they continued to walk. Julie hugged him back. She bit her lip in thought, finally saying, “Yeah, I guess we probably should tell him. Since I can prove you guys are real he won’t try and send me back to Dr. Turner!”

Flynn laughed.

“But how are we going to do it?” Alex asked.

“Uhhh…..”

“It’s obvious, isn’t it?” Flynn sighed, poking Julie in the shoulder. “You tell him what happened, which already gets telling him what they are out of the way, and the boys are there too so they can become visible when you’re done. _Duh_.”

Julie facepalmed. “Oh yeah, duh. But we’re not telling him about the demon thing yet. I don’t want to worry him.”

Luke chuckled, nodding.

The walk home was almost done, and the rest of it passed in silence. It was just long enough, though, for Julie to work herself up, her palms growing clammy and her heart speeding up just a little. She did a small jump when Alex put his hand on her shoulder, right before they were about to walk into the house. Obviously he had noticed what she was doing, since he did it to himself often.

“Hey,” he said quietly, his eyes soft. “It’ll be fine. Your dad’s a really cool guy, and he’ll be pretty cool about this too, I think.”

Julie nodded. “Yeah, I know, it’s just—”

Alex nodded too, squeezing Julie’s shoulder reassuringly. “I get it. You still can’t help but be worried. We’re all here for you, though, you know that.” He smirked, leaning in and whispering, “And we can always haunt this Dr. Turner if it comes to it.”

Julie barked a laugh, hugging Alex quickly. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, no problem. Now, let’s do this.”

Julie nodded resolutely, turning around and squaring her shoulders before marching up the steps and into the house, Alex following. “Dad!” Julie called.

“Yeah, _mija_?” Ray responded from the dining room. “Flynn’s in here too.”

Julie followed the sound of his voice to where he was, working on his computer. “Hey dad.”

“Hey honey. What’s up?”

Julie swallowed, rocking on her heels with her hands in her pockets. “I have something I wanna tell you.”

Ray, sensing the serious tone in Julie’s voice, shut his laptop and leaned forward. “What’s up, baby girl?”

“It’s about the band…” Julie trailed off.

“Are the boys okay?” Ray asked, his eyebrows drawn together in concern.

“Yeah, yeah they’re fine!” Julie rushed to assure.

“Aww, Ray’s concerned about us.” Reggie smiled. Luke shook his head with a grin and Alex just rolled his eyes, though you could tell he was happy about it too.

“Then what’s up?”

“So, it’s a long story, and I need you to promise that you’ll listen to the entire thing before making any judgements or interrupting, okay?” Julie’s eyes were pleading, waiting for Ray to respond.

Ray nodded. “Yeah, okay, I promise, _mija_. Now what is it?”

“So it all started the night I went to clean out mom’s studio. You probably remember it because I ran out screaming about ghosts, remember?” Julie started. When Ray nodded, she continued speaking, telling him about three boys _falling_ into the studio, appearing out of thin air. She told him about Sunset Curve, about how they died right before the _biggest_ night of their lives. She told him about how people could hear them when they played, and how people could _see_ them when they played with _her_.

The story took a while, but eventually she finished, saying, “And now people can see and touch them if they focus hard enough, but they’re still ghosts.” Julie waited expectantly, reaching out and grabbing a Flynn and Alex’s hands nervously.

Ray looked deep in thought, eventually muttering. “Those poor boys.” He seemed to remember he had an audience, then, looking up and asking, “So, the holograms in your band are actually…ghosts?”

Julie nodded. “Mhmm.”

“Are they here?” Ray asked, looking around.

Reggie’s smile lit up his face as he picked up a pen and moved it in a motion reminiscent of a wave. “Hi Ray!”

Ray, of course, could only see the pen moving, not hear Reggie, but it was enough. His eyes widened. “So they are real.” He turned to Julie. “Am I able to see them?”

Julie nodded quickly, looking at the boys expectantly. She could tell when her dad could see them, because he jumped a little when Luke, Reggie, and Alex _poof_ ed into sight.

Reggie smiled at him. “Hi Ray! It’s nice to meet you officially!”

Luke smacked him a little bit before turning his attention back to Ray. Julie watched with bated breath, waiting for her dad’s reaction.

“Wow. So you are real.” Ray took a second, but recovered quickly. Julie thought she saw a sparkle of mischief, of _knowing_ something more, but it was gone before she could be sure. “Well, thank you for bringing music back to Julie’s life. I can’t thank you enough for that.”

Luke shrugged, a bashful smile on his face. “It was nothing, sir. We wouldn’t even be here without her, so…”

Alex nodded. “And anyway, it was our privilege because she’s such a cool bandmate.”

Julie scoffed. “Laying the flattery on a little thick, don’t you think?”

Reggie laughed. “Nothing that isn’t deserved, Julie.”

“C’mon girl, you know you’re where it’s at,” Flynn teased, a smirk quirking her lips.

“Yeah, okay. Thanks guys.”

Ray laughed. “So where have you boys been staying, then?”

Julie interrupted them before they could answer. “I told them they could stay in the studio. It’s where they used to practice before they—” she cut off, realizing where she was going.

“Died,” Luke finished, giving her a soft smile. “Don’t worry about it, Jules,” he comforted when Julie sent him an apologetic grimace.

Ray took in a shallow breath. It was always such a tragedy when kids died before their time, and that’s exactly what had happened to these three. He couldn’t help but notice how stiffly they held themselves while waiting for his response, and right then and there he promised to be there for them. He didn’t know them very well, yet, but he would eventually, and something told him they would need a positive adult presence in their lives. He could be that. What was three more kids, even if they were ghosts, right?</0:

Ray offered the boys a smile. “Well, you’re still more than welcome to stay in the studio. Though we have a guest bedroom if you need it. And you are always welcome to come in and hang out, all I ask is that you tell me when you are in the room. Does that sound good?”

The boys all nodded. </p

Julie grinned. “Thanks, Papá.”

Ray shrugged, pinning his daughter with a look. “I expect to be told about anymore ghostly developments, okay?”

Julie nodded earnestly. “You got it!”

Ray smiled. “Alright, well, I’m going to need a bit of time to process, but things will all work out.”

Julie smiled and Flynn patted her on the back, “Now that that’s done with, my parents are expecting me back home. See you, Jules!” Flynn pulled Julie in for a hug before picking up her backpack. “Bye, Ray!”

“Bye, Flynn. Thank you for helping Julie.”

“Of course, you know I always got her.” With one last wave, she turned around and left.

Julie waited a few minutes before saying, “Hey, dad?”

“Yeah, _niña_?”

“I was wondering if I could go hang out at a library? It belongs to a ghost the boys know and it has a lot of information. I was thinking I could go there to finish homework and maybe find out more about ghosts?”

Ray looked up from where he had opened his laptop, a considering look on his face. Finally, he nodded. “Alright, but make sure you get all of your homework done,” he said sternly.

Julie nodded. “Yeah, definitely!”

Julie made sure to grab her backpack before she and the boys left the house to go to the Hollywood Ghost Club. Caleb didn’t know they were coming, but it should be fine. He had said they were welcome anytime, after all.

When they got to the club, it was a quick trip from the front entrance to the main club area. Willie saw them from the main floor, a smile illuminating his face as he bounded up to them. “Hey, what’s up?”

Julie shrugged. “Just here to hang out, maybe do some research.”

Willie nodded. “Cool. I think Caleb’s already in the library resting and reading, so you can just go up there and hang out. I’ll be up in a bit.”

“Hey Caleb,” Julie greeted as she walked in.

Caleb looked up from what he had been reading. His lips quirked upward slightly. “Afternoon, Julie, boys. What brings you here?”

“Julie’s gonna do some homework, and we were going to do some more research,” Alex responded, walking absentmindedly over to the index book.

“Well, have at it.”

Julie smiled at him, settling down on one of the couches and spreading her stuff out on the coffee table in front of it. Luke looked through the index before summoning a book, catching it right before it tried to settle on Reggie’s head like a heavy hat. Once he had the book he joined Julie on the couch, falling into it without a second thought. Reggie grabbed his own book and flopped down onto an armchair near them, sitting in it sideways so his legs wound up going over to the arm of the couch Luke and Julie were on.

Alex settled down between Luke’s feet, his knees pulled up. Willie arrived soon after, some of the less messy snacks piled on a tray that he set on the coffee table. The boys’ eyes lit up and they descended on the food, careful not to get it on the books. Julie watched them and laughed a little, but got back to her homework.

Eventually, the boys returned to their reading, only occasionally reaching over and grabbing something to munch on. Luke started humming a random melody under his breath, and Julie joined in without thinking. Alex and Reggie exchanged looks, and Alex began to tap a soft beat out with his feet. Reggie reached over and stealthily slipped Julie’s phone out of her pocket, beginning to record the scene.

Not much happened aside from Alex’s feat percussion and Julie and Luke humming a new tune, but the scene was soft in only the way slice of life scenes could be.

Caleb looked on with a smile, chuckling to himself when he noticed Willie dancing a bit where he was sitting. Before Julie could notice, Reggie managed to slip her phone back into her pocket and return to his reading as if nothing had happened. What he was reading was actually pretty cool, and some of these charms seemed like they would be interesting or come in handy.

Julie checked the time on her phone, seeing that she still had about an hour before they would have to head home. She mostly packed up her school stuff, yawning, “Wake me up in an hour,” and falling against Luke’s side. She would be flustered about it later (like he was, since his eyes had gone a bit wide and his skin felt a little flushed), but for right now she was too tired to care.

Reggie and Alex met each other’s eyes and laughed at Luke’s panic. He glared at them in betrayal, squirming a little before settling down.

Caleb watched on as Alex started to card his hand through Willie’s hair, growing more confident in it when Willie didn’t do anything. Caleb smiled, smirking teasingly at Willie before leaning back and closing his eyes. He was still pretty wiped, and sleeping, even though he shouldn’t need it, would help him regain the energy stolen by the demon much faster.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed? Comments or kudos are so appreciated, they’re my lifeblood as a writer and I love getting the email that tells me I have them. I love and appreciate all of you, whether you comment, kudos, or whatever. You’re all amazing and if things are tough right now just know that I’m rooting for you and I believe in you 💕
> 
> Anyway, if you wanna yell at me on tumblr:  
> my main: blerghfish  
> my JatP sideblog: julie-and-the-phat-ones  
> And I run the Caleb ask blog! Go send me an ask @askcaleb-themagician ! I always love receiving them!


	5. Whatcha Doin’ With that Meatsuit

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn’s attention turned to something behind Julie, and before Julie could turn to look, Flynn rushed out, “Guess I’ve gotta go to class, bye!” She spun around and walked off, looking over her shoulder briefly to cast a knowing wink at a bewildered Julie. 
> 
> Julie stared after her for a second, jumping when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! This week has been chaotic and school has been really stressful, but thanks for returning to read the new chapter! This one was kind of difficult, but definitely rewarding when I was finally done. There’s a lot of revelations in this chapter, so, while I know it’s short compared to most of my chapters, I hope that makes up for it!
> 
> Sorry this is an hour or so late, but I was distracted by B 99, which I have been binging and reading fanfic for (I do not support cops, but the ideal represented in the show and the way it’s conducted means I enjoy it so oh well).

Julie loved her brother, really, she _did_. 

She was just a little bit salty that he had gotten her sick, though. Well, had gotten both her and her dad sick. It was Friday, and Carlos had gotten better on Thursday. Evidently by passing the bug onto her and their papi. Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on how you looked at it—she wasn’t quite sick enough to skip school, since for right now she just had a stuffy nose.

Though she thought those were the worst. She hated not being able to breathe. 

Julie just hoped she could get over it quickly, since she and the band had a gig that weekend. 

Flynn met her by the front of the school, this being one of the few days they didn’t walk to school together. Flynn’s eyebrows drew together in concern. “You look terrible. What’s wrong?”

Julie gave Flynn a deadpan look before climbing the steps. “It’s just a little cold, I’m fine.”

“You sure about that? What about the gig tomorrow?”

Julie shrugged, pulling open her locker and grabbing one of her books to stuff in her backpack. “My voice is fine, but I’m going to go on partial vocal rest for today so that I don’t risk anything happening. I get that you’re worried about me, but I’ve got it under control, Flynn.” Julie smiled again her, and Flynn nodded in reluctant acceptance.

The bell rang, and Flynn took a second to watch the people rushing to classes before looking back at Julie and raising a poised brow. Julie raised one right back and they had a silent conversation that ended with Flynn heaving a sigh and throwing her hands up. “Fine,” she said, but pointed a finger at Julie. “If you’re worse tomorrow, though, I’m talking to your dad so you can’t do the gig. You come first, and I’m sure the guys will agree too.”

Julie smiled. “Yeah, Flynn, I know.”

Flynn’s attention turned to something behind Julie, and before Julie could turn to look, Flynn rushed out, “Guess I’ve gotta go to class, bye!” She spun around and walked off, looking over her shoulder briefly to cast a knowing wink at a bewildered Julie. 

Julie stared after her for a second, jumping when she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She whirled around, and her gut did a funky something when she saw Nick. She didn’t have feelings for him anymore, true, but he had been acting a little off ever since her performance at the Orpheum and she was getting a bit concerned. She mustered up a smile. “Nick! Heeyyy. What’s up?”

Nick smiled, shrugging. “Nothing much, how about you?”

Julie waved a hand. “Oh, you know, same old same old.”

Nick nodded. “And the boys? How are they?”

Julie’s eyebrows furrowed. Sure, it seemed like a purely innocent question, and maybe she was just being paranoid, but something in his tone set her on edge. She couldn’t quite put her finger on it…but it seemed almost malicious. Which was ridiculous, because this was _Nick_. He didn’t have a malicious bone in his body. She cleared her throat, rocking back on her heels slightly. “They’re doing fine, last I checked. Thank you, for your concern.”

Nick nodded. “Of course. Just wanted to make sure they were okay after what happened Saturday.”

Julie’s heart sped up and she anxiously tapped her toe in her shoe as she let out an awkward laugh. “Uh-huh, what exactly do you mean?”

Nick’s eyebrows furrowed in concern, but Julie could’ve _sworn_ she’d seen the ghost of a smirk grace his lips. “Well, one of them was glitching, right? I didn’t know if something was wrong, but I hope he’s okay?”

Julie made a small ‘o’ with her lips, giggling nervously and bouncing a little. “Oh, yeah, yeah of course. He’s, uh, he’s doing fine. It was just some technology issues.”

“Oh, okay. Would’ve been a shame if something happened, or if your powers malfunctioned.”

Julie gaped. Okay, that had definitely been malice. Something was wrong. “I—I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t have powers or anything. Are you okay?”

Nick smirked, his eyes flashing golden-yellow. Julie took a step back, but he followed. “Didn’t you know? There’s a reason you can see the boys, and it has to do with a certain witchy background.”

Julie’s eyes widened, her brain short-circuiting and all she could manage to get out was, “Y—you are _not_ Nick.”

Nick gave a faux-pout. “Aww, what clued you in.” He stepped forward, and Julie was frozen in place as leaned to whisper in her ear, “Just…think about what I’ve said.” He stepped back, waving cheekily before disappearing with the tell-tale _poof_ …just a little more spicy and crackling than she was used to with the boys, and this one left a brief black cloud in the air. 

Julie gulped, wrapping her hands around herself. Something was wrong, and even though now she knew who the demon was possessing, she felt a whole lot worse.

——

“So, Carlos,” Tía started, coming around the couch to sit down next to the boy. He was still home for another day to make sure he was actually better. “What do you think you want to be for Halloween?”

“I wanna be a ghost buster! That way I can get in character for when we actually do it!” 

Tía pursed her lips, seeming to consider something. “Alright, _mijo, ¿pero sí sabes cómo?_ ”

Carlos took a second to work out the Spanish before nodding earnestly. “Yeah! I’ve been doing a lot of research! I just need to check if we have any of the herbs that we need, but I’m too short to reach the cabinets.” His lips furrowed in frustration. 

Tía chuckled, ruffling Carlos’ hair before he could pull away with a glare. “I will look in the cabinets for you, _niño_. I also have something to show you later, but I will have to run home to get it.”

Carlos’ eyes brightened. “Really? _You_ have something for ghost hunting? Why didn’t you tell me sooner!”

“It’s a family secret, Carlos, and besides, you weren’t as interested in this stuff before. Now, I’m going to go check the cabinets for any herbs or spices that might work.”

“You mean _we’ll_ check the cabinets,” Carlos retorted, jumping up and over the couch. 

Tía laughed teasingly, “I thought you were too short to, _mijo_.”

Carlos glared at her, whining, “Tíaaaaaaa.” He scowled, marching into the kitchen and leaving Victoria to follow after him, shaking her head. 

——

The day was going pretty slowly, but with all the excitement lately, the boys were okay with that. They were taking the time to relax together and hang out. 

“I’m just saying, we don’t even know the gender of the demon. What if it’s a girl?” Reggie asked.

Alex sat up a little, gasping. “I bet it’s a Karen.”

Luke looked at him oddly. He was slowly catching up on pop culture references (though, admittedly, he had spent the most time catching up on music), but Alex and Reggie were further ahead so he was often confused. He’d have to fix that. He shook his head, chuckling a little. “Either way, it’s making me nervous that _it_ hasn’t done anything yet. It’s been a week and we’ve heard nothing.” 

Reggie nodded. “It hasn’t made any moves that we _know of_ , but it may be doing other things.”

“Jeez, Reg,” Alex drawled, “That makes us feel _so_ much better.”

Reggie threw his arms up. “I’m just saying!”

“Guys, guys.” Luke sat back a little, sighing. “I guess we’ll just have to—” 

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before a crackling _poof_ sound interrupted, causing the three boys to look up. Luke’s eyebrows furrowed when he saw who it was. _Isn’t that Nick?_

“Who’re you?” Reggie asked, leaning forward in confusion. He felt like he had seen them before. 

Alex narrowed his eyes. “Wait a second. Luke, isn’t that Nick? What’s he doing here?”

“I don’t—I dunno,” Luke said hesitantly, his posture tense as he stood slightly in front of Reggie and Alex.

Nick smirked, his hands folded unnaturally. “I would have thought you’d realize. I’m not Nick. What, you couldn’t tell, despite the class I bring to hormonal mess of a fleshbag?”

Luke glared, crossing his arms. “If you’re not Nick then who are you?”

“I, am William Francis Lionel Cash, VII.”

Reggie snorted, a hand coming up to cover his mouth. Luke’s lips quirked slightly, like he wanted to laugh but knew he shouldn’t. Alex’s eyebrows went up, his eyes twinkling despite the situation.

Reggie cleared his throat. “So, uh, you’re the demon?”

William, but the boys all privately decided to call him Billy, spread his arms out in a grand gesture. “The very one.”

Luke’s eyebrows furrowed together as he pieced something together. When he looked up, it was with a scowl twisting his lips as he took a step forward. “What did you do to Julie?”

“Me? I did nothing. Just…told her a thing or two.” Billy had done nothing of the sort (unless you counted telling her she was a witch as “showing her something,” but he wasn’t about to say that). He grinned. 

Luke tried to launch forward, but Alex and Reggie held him back, though they looked like they wanted to be right there with him. “You better not have hurt her you bastard,” Luke snarled.

“Oh please,” Billy scoffed. “I wouldn’t hurt you or any of your precious soulmates… _yet_.”

Luke froze at that, rewinding what Billy had said in his head. 

“Soulmates…?” Reggie got out, his brain immediately going to Luke and Julie, or Alex and Willie.

“Why of course. There’s a reason all four of you are able to connect so deeply, after all. Didn’t you know you could have more than one?” Billy grinned sharply, and Luke was struck by how out of character that looked on Nick’s face. He hadn’t seen the boy much, but even Luke could see that Nick was mainly an awkward dork, and that kind of grin on his face seemed completely unnatural.

“We…what?” Luke choked out, his mind reeling and his fists clenched in frustrated confusion. 

Billy sighed. “If I _must_ repeat it, you’re all a merry group of soul mates. Anyway, tata for now, enjoy the time you have left.” Billy waved cheekily before vanishing with a snapping _poof_. 

The boys looked at each other in confusion. “Did he just say we’re all soulmates?” Reggie asked weakly, gulping.

“But how can there be more than one? And I’m not even interested in girls that way, let alone Julie, she’s like a little sister!” Alex exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air and pacing.

“Can you have more than one type of soulmate?” Luke pondered, his forehead crinkled in thought. 

“I…don’t know,” Alex realized. 

“And now we know who the demon is, so I guess that’s a silver lining?” Luke shrugged. He was trying to ignore the worries knot in his chest and the pounding of his heart. Billy had said he was with Julie before his visit to them, and even though he claimed not to have hurt her, he figured it wasn’t a good idea to put much stock in a demon’s word. 

“We have to tell Julie when she gets back, right?” Reggie asked, twiddling his thumbs nervously.

Luke’s gut instinct reaction was to say no, but he knew that this wasn’t something they should keep from her. He nodded his head. “Yeah, we have to tell her.”

——

Julie ran into the front door, paying little attention to how widely it swung open as she quickly let her backpack fall to the floor with her jacket. She thought she heard her Tía’s voice saying something about a shadowy book, but filed it away for later, that wasn’t important right now. When she rushed through the front room, she took a brief second to notice the oddity that was Tía, Carlos, and Flynn gathered around the coffee table.

“Hi, _mija_.” Tía looked up from whatever they were doing with a smile.

Julie waved, but she was out of the room in the next second. She _really_ needed to talk to the boys about what the demon had said, and who the demon was. Her heart was pounding and she kind of had to go to the bathroom, but that’s not what was important! 

Her heart fluttered nervously in anticipation before she flung the studio doors open and rushed in. She took a second to heave in air, gulping and meeting the boys’ eyes. They met hers, and she was thrown by the expressions. She couldn’t piece together what exactly was on their mind, but she would ask after she told them.

The boys exchanged looks.

“I think I’m a witch!”

“We think we’re all soulmates!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How was it? Be sure to let me know! I seek validation of my writing skills and I am not afraid to say it. Anyway, I hope everything is going well for you all, and if it isn’t thenI hope it begins to look up for you soon! I love you all and you’re wonderful, beautiful human beings and I’m touched that you’re sharing this journey with me.


	6. Yer A Witch, Julie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All three of them bobbed their heads up and down earnestly, causing Julie to let out a small chuckle. “Okay, okay,” she conceded. “But what’s this about soulmates?”
> 
> Alex scrunched his forehead. “Shouldn’t we talk about the witch thing first?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience everybody! This chapter is unbetaed right now, because I finished it really close to the deadline and didn’t have enough time to receive notes before publishing. I’ll come back in the morning once I receive notes and update it, don’t worry. 
> 
> To those who are new: welcome! To those who have been with me for a while: welcome back!
> 
> This chapter is the longest, actually, which should make up for how short the last one was. I’m going to be dealing with college apps and homework is getting more involved, so please forgive me if my other fics aren’t updated as quickly. Anyway, happy reading everybody!

“I think I’m a witch!”

“We think we might be soulmates!”

Their voices overlapped with each other, creating a mess of words to work through. Julie’s eyes had gone wide, and so had the boys’.

Silence laid thick over the studio as they all digested what had been said. Julie sniffled before sneezing explosively. 

Reggie’s face broke out into a slow grin. “I _knew_ it!” He whispered fiercely. He had called the witch thing from the beginning, and he had been _right_.

Alex gave him a look, wrapping his arms around himself. “What does this mean? And how’d you find out? How are you a witch? Is it genetic or—” 

“Dude, calm down!” Luke put a hand on Alex’s shoulder to ground him. However much he wanted answers to those questions too, now wasn’t the time to spiral and bombard Julie with every single one of them. He looked up at Julie, who was waiting with baited breath and watery eyes from her cold. She looked adorable, but that’s not what he should be focusing on right now, dammit. “What is this about you being a witch?” Luke asked softly. 

Julie shook her head. “I dunno.” She paused to sniffle before continuing, “The demon, it—it’s Nick—” 

“We know,” all three boys chorused together, varying looks of sympathy (Luke and Reggie) and empathetic anxiety (Alex) on their faces. 

Julie’s face twisted in confusion. “Wait, how do you know it’s Nick? And what was the soulmate thing?”

Luke cleared his throat, casting his eyes around the studio. “He kinda, sorta, may have showed up in the studio about half an hour before you got home?” 

Luke looked up at Julie, whose face was clouded with worry and apprehension. “He didn’t try to possess any of you, did he? ‘Cause we all saw how weak Caleb is, and he was powerful, right? I don’t wanna know what the demon could do to any of you,” she trailed off, wrapping her arms around herself in a hug. 

Luke walked forward and grasped one of Julie’s hands in his, looking up at her and then at Reggie and Alex. “Don’t worry, we’re fine.”

Reggie nodded with what he hoped was a comforting smile. “Yeah! Besides, he was too busy being smug to try and do anything, right?”

All three of them bobbed their heads up and down earnestly, causing Julie to let out a small chuckle. “Okay, okay,” she conceded. “But what’s this about soulmates?”

Alex scrunched his forehead. “Shouldn’t we talk about the witch thing first?”

Julie shook her head. “We knew there had to be some kind of connection that let you guys become visible, and I wanna know if it’s because I’m a ‘witch’—” She said this with exaggerated air quotes—“or if it’s because we’re soulmates. I will admit that I know absolutely nothing other than the clichéd romance soulmate tropes.”

Reggie bobbed his head in agreement. “Yeah, me too. Maybe we could go to Caleb? He’s bound to have something in that library of his.”

Julie’s eyes widened and she slapped a palm to her face. “You’re right! Why didn’t I think of that?” She muttered frustratedly. 

Luke walked over carefully. “Hey, you’re anxious and you just had a lot of information dropped on you. You’re allowed to forget about things.”

Alex nodded, his fingers drumming on his thighs. “Uh-huh. I forget about really obvious things when I’m nervous, it’s not your fault.”

Julie’s look of frustration melted a bit and her lips quirked up in a small smile. 

——

After making a quick trip back to her house, Victoria came back with two thick leather-bound journals grasped tightly in her hands. Ray was upstairs sleeping and trying to get over the bug, which had hit him worse than it had affected Julie. She sat down on the couch next to Carlos, setting the journals on the table and flipping them open to reveal that they were actually three-ring binders.

“Carlos, this is what’s called a Book of Shadows and a Grimoire. This Grimoire has been passed down through the female members of our family for a _very_ long time.”

“If it’s that old then why is it a binder?” Carlos asked skeptically.

Victoria chuckled. “It wasn’t, it was actually one of those old journals that you would expect. However, your great-great-great grandma put in the work to transfer it all into a binder so things could be organized more easily.”

Carlos’ eyes widened. “Does this mean you and mom are witches? Is Julie one?!”

Tía smiled, nodding her head. “That’s right! Although, we don’t know if Julie is a witch yet, since she hasn’t shown signs of powers.”

“No, she definitely is.” Carlos shook his head, not noticing his tía’s look of confusion. 

The front door swung open, then, and Flynn walked in. She let her backpack fall against one of the walls, a black journal clutched in her hands as she turned to face Carlos and Victoria. Tía quickly shut both the Grimoire and the BOS, waving her hand a little to put a glamor on them. 

“Hey, Carlos,” Flynn greeted, walking into the kitchen to grab an apple. “Is Julie home? I couldn’t find her after school so my dad gave me a ride here.”

Carlos shook his head. “She’s not home yet.”

Flynn nodded, taking a bite of the apple, her eyes twinkling with something Carlos didn’t know. “So,” she started, walking over and sitting on the chair across from them, “What’re you doing?”

Carlos’ eyes lit up. “Tía’s showing me her witch book!”

Flynn’s eyebrows shot up as she looked at Victoria, who sputtered for a second before trying to explain to Flynn that it was actually just a book of folklore, nothing that important, really. 

Carlos looked between the two of them in confusion before realizing what was happening. “Tía, Flynn already knows!”

“Knows what?” Victoria asked weakly.

“About ghosts and witches and stuff!”

Flynn shrugged when Victoria looked at her in bewilderment. “I mean, I knew about ghosts. I didn’t know for sure that witches were real, but it’s not that big of a jump from the whole ghost thing so…” She shrugged. 

Carlos nodded. “Tía just told me she’s a witch! Julie’s one too, right?”

Flynn bobbed her head, thinking for a second as she lit up with a realization. “That’s her connection to the boys!”

“That’s what I said!”

“Wait wait, stop.” Victoria held up a hand, putting a slow to the conversation going on. “What boys? What ghosts?”

“Julie’s band is a bunch of ghosts from 1995, Tía. She’s the only one that can see them. Flynn is their manager.”

“Actually,” Flynn said, “Now they can make themselves visible and tangible. They’ve been able to since the Orpheum performance.”

“Cool!” Carlos bounced a little in his seat. 

Victoria shook her head, her eyes wide but her lips quirked up in a smile. “ _Ay dios mío_ ,” she sighed. “I’m not surprised your sister is getting up to this kind of stuff. She takes after your _mamá_.”

“What do you mean?” Carlos asked, leaning forward. 

“Your mother used to get into the weirdest scenarios. I always had to pull her out,” Tía chuckled, a reminiscing smile on her face. 

Flynn was only half paying attention to the conversation, her brain working a mile a minute as it factored in the knowledge that Tía was a witch. Her eyes widened. “Tía! If you’re a witch that means you know about rituals and stuff, right? Do you have any in those binders?”

They didn’t hear the door open as Tía responded. “Yes, I have a few in my Book of Shadows, but there are more in the Grimoire.”

They looked up when they heard a backpack hit the floor. Julie came into the sitting room a moment later. 

“Hi, _mija_ ,” Victoria greeted with a smile. Flynn waved happily. 

Julie smiled in return but darted out of the room not even a second later, leaving the three looking after her in confusion. 

Flynn turned her attention back to Victoria, determination setting her face. “I have a question.”

“What is it?”

Flynn placed the black journal on top of one of the binders, flipping to a bookmarked page and putting her finger where she wanted Victoria to look. “Do you think you can help with this? I think it’s talking about bringing ghosts back to life, and I wanna know if we can do it for the boys.”

Tía’s brow furrowed in thought, her fingers fiddling slightly with the hem of her shirt as she read through the vague passage. She stuck her tongue out in thought, pulling the Grimoire onto her lap and rifling through it. She settled on a page, looking between it and the journal. After a moment she declared, “I think it might be possible, yes.”

Flynn bit her lip. “I haven’t brought it up to Julie and the guys yet, ‘cause I didn’t want to get their hopes up.”

Carlos bounced, his eyes sparkling with excitement. “We can bring _ghosts_ back to _life?!_ ” 

Tía nodded, looking up at the ceiling as if it could help her think. “I believe we can, yes. I’d have to do some research, though, so it won’t happen immediately, and it is probably a _very_ involved ritual. We need to make sure we do plenty of research before attempting it at all; we don’t want the boys to come back wrong.”

Flynn’s expression grew a bit more somber when Tía said that. She hadn’t really thought of that, the possibility that it would work but _not quite right_ , and now she wondered if it was worth it to do it at all. What if she wound up messing things up? That would make her a bad friend, and she couldn’t _bear_ the thought of that. 

Tía, noticing Flynn’s new trepidation, placed a hand on the girl’s thigh in comfort as she offered her a smile. “Don’t worry, I’m sure we will get it right. We just need to make sure we are prepared, okay?”

Flynn nodded, mustering up some of the excitement she felt earlier. “Yeah, okay. Thank you.”

Victoria pursed her lips. “I’m going to need to meet these boys, though, since I’m doing this. Also, I want to know these boys that have helped _mi sobrina_ so much.”

Flynn laughed as Carlos launched into the tale of how he had met the boys. 

——

The walk to the club had been awkward, the air fraught with the tension of new revelations and contemplations. Hopefully Caleb had some answers for them, otherwise they didn’t know what they would do. 

“And what’s the importance of soulmates? I mean, aside from the obvious, but there has to be a _reason_ Billy told us. And the same about telling Julie she’s a witch! Why? Doesn’t that just make us more powerful and make it harder for him?”

Reggie placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder silently, offering the drummer an understanding smile. Luke usually would have helped, but he was closed off to the world, too occupied with the thoughts flying through his head. Some of them tangible, others fleeting, there and gone before he could truly digest them. Julie was in much the same predicament, everything seeming somewhat detached. 

She blinked, rubbing her biceps against the slight chill of the evening as she refocused on what the boys were doing. Alex’s fingers were thumping against his thighs and then his biceps when he crossed his arms, changing their positions restlessly as they walked. Reggie’s forehead was creased in thought as he gnawed on his lip. Luke showed no awareness of the outside world except for a small sniffle and wipe of his nose. 

Hopefully Caleb would be able to shed some light on the situation, or at least have something in that massive library of his that would help them understand everything. 

They barely had to wait a second before the door opened, revealing Caleb standing there in dark grey slacks, an ivory button up shirt—the sleeves rolled up to his elbows—and an eggplant-colored button up vest. He had earrings going up his ears, most fitting the color of his outfit, with touches of gold thrown in. 

“Welcome. What’s going on?” He asked, his eyes twinkling and sounding slightly breathless, as though he had run there from something important. 

Julie cleared her throat, bouncing on the balls of her feet nervously for a second. “We were all approached by the demon.”

The light expression on Caleb’s face vanished as he grew concerned, giving them all a once over to look for any damage. “Is everyone okay?”

Alex nodded. “Yeah, we’re good. Just…shaken. It’s one of Julie’s classmates.”

Caleb asked for permission with a tilt of his head before pulling Julie in for a hug. “I’m sorry, darling, that’s horrible.”

Julie squeezed him tightly, soaking in the hug before stepping back. “Yeah, uh, he…dropped some bombs on us.”

Reggie’s whole body bobbed with anxious energy. “Yeah, apparently I was right and Julie’s a witch! Also we’re soulmates, but I didn’t call that.”

Alex shook his head in fond exasperation, looking at Luke, who had yet to chime into the conversation, with concern. He would just have to be there for when Luke came back to them, it seemed. After he had processed everything enough that he could interact with people again. 

Caleb raised a single poised eyebrow. “Is that so?”

Julie bobbed her head. “Yeah, and we were wondering if you knew anything? Or if we could do some research on your library?”

Caleb pursed his lips, checking the watch on his wrist. He looked up at them before saying, “Well, I’m not surprised you’re a witch. You do have…an _aura_ , of power, if you will. It’s usually passed down through members of the family, I believe it will have been through your female ancestors.”

Julie’s mouth dropped open. “You’re saying—you mean my mom, my aunt…? Are they witches too?”

Caleb looked back at his watch. “Listen, tonight is very busy. Usually, I would be fine skipping to help you all, but I can’t do that tonight. I can, however, say that you have full access to the library—as you always do—and, Julie,” he turned his attention solely on her when he said her name, “You should probably ask your aunt about this. Even if she doesn’t have the power, she will have the knowledge to help you. More so than I do, I would think, since it is an actual part of her life.”

“Tía was at the house, if I get back in time I could probably catch her…” Julie mused out loud. 

Caleb smiled at her, briefly placing a comforting hand on her shoulder and sharing a meaningful look with Alex and Reggie before spinning around and rushing off to somewhere in the club. 

“I can walk with you and then poof back to help with the research, if you want?” Reggie suggested. It was getting late, and the thought of Julie walking the streets back to her house in the near-dark was somewhat worrying. 

Alex nodded. “Luke and I will get started on the research.” He and the others looked in concern at Luke, who didn’t notice anything.

Julie steeled herself. “Okay, we got this. Come on. Faster we get home, faster you can return to help with the research on this…soulmate thing.”

Alex watched them retreat, turning back to Luke, where he recognized the signs of the boy returning to himself slowly. Luke blinked his eyes, looking around in confusion and a crinkled forehead. “I did it again, didn’t I?” Luke asked softly, looking up at the club and then at Alex, glad he had someone he knew around. 

Alex nodded with a soft smile. “You did, but it’s okay. Nothing important happened, really. Although Julie’s tía may also be a witch. It’s a hereditary thing, I guess.”

Luke nodded, digesting the information. He bit his lip, seeming like he wanted to ask something, but was battling himself on whether or not he should. Alex waited patiently, until he finally asked, “What happened to Reggie and Julie? Could’ve sworn they came with us…”

Alex directed Luke into the club and on the familiar path to the library as he explained, “Julie figured she would get more answers from her tía than spending hours trying to find something in the library. Reggie offered to walk home with her so that she was safe and had company.”

Luke’s mouth screwed in guilt. He should have been able to offer to keep her safe. What kind of friend was he? That he—

“Hey, no,” Alex chided, stern but soft. “Don’t go down that path. We all process information differently, and you needed time to process it yourself, without any new information getting in the way. We get that, and so does Julie. 

Luke’s lips were still pursed, but they smoothed out a little bit as he followed Alex up the staircase to the library. 

——

Reggie had his shoulders hunched and his hands stuffed in his pockets, walking closely next to Julie. “So,” he broached carefully. “Soulmates, heh.”

Julie nodded, an equally awkward smile on her face. “Yeah. I just…I dunno. I never put a huge amount of stock in the whole idea before you guys came, but having more than one? I see you as more of a brother, same for Alex, so I don’t know how this whole… ‘soulmate’ thing would work.”

Reggie shrugged, looking up at one of the few stars that was shining brightly enough it could still be seen through the light pollution of the LA night sky. “Luke said that maybe there were different types.”

Julie nodded, considering the idea. “Yeah, I guess that could be a thing.” What she said next, she said hesitantly, tasting each word in her mouth before letting it escape. “Did—is Luke gonna be okay? He seemed…pretty out of it.”

Reggie looked over, seeing Julie’s furrowed brows. He pulled a hand out of his pocket, snaking it around Julie’s arm to connect them as he offered her a smile. “He’ll be fine. He gets like that, sometimes, when he’s been given a lot of information to digest at once and he doesn’t know what to do with it. Think of it like Alex’s word-vomits, he just does it in his own head instead of letting everyone else know what he’s thinking.”

Julie’s mouth formed a small ‘o’ of understanding. “That makes sense, I guess.” She cleared her throat, giving a small cough and sniffle. Turns out going on voice rest like she had told Flynn hadn’t been very successful. But it’s not like it was her fault, right? She couldn’t be blamed. 

Reggie glances over at her in concern. “Are you going to be alright for the gig tomorrow? Should we even do it? We don’t know what Billy’s next move is.”

Julie shook her head, stopping when it made it hurt. “No! I’ll be fine. And besides, if we put everything on hold just because of one stupid demon, he’ll be winning the battle even if he doesn’t win the war. We can’t let him do that.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Reggie said skeptically, tilting his head up. “But you know your health comes first, right?”

Julie nodded. “Yeah, I know, don’t worry.”

Reggie smirked, nudging her with his shoulder as they approached the house. “I’ll always worry, Julie. Alex and Luke, too.”

Julie scowled playfully before ducking her head. She kicked at a stray rock on the sidewalk, sending it skittering into the grass, disappearing from sight. She looked up at the steps to the front door, a complicated look on her face. Reggie offered her a comforting smile when she cleared her throat nervously. “I—uh, I’m going to go check on my dad before I talk to Tía.”

They both knew that Julie was really just putting off talking to Victoria about the witch thing, but Reggie let her have it. 

When they got to Ray’s room, he was dozing softly. Julie watched from the door, a soft smile on her face. Reggie tapped her on the shoulder, making a motion telling her that he was going to go back to the boys. 

When she got downstairs, it was to the scene of Flynn, Carlos, and Tía all around two binders opened on the coffee table. Julie called for their attention with a hesitant clearing of the throat. “Hey, Tía? Could I, uh—could I talk to you about something?”

Her tía nodded, but didn’t move. 

“Alone,” Julie clarified. 

Tía’s eyes widened in understanding. “Of course, _mija_. We can talk in your room?”

Julie nodded, waiting until Tía was closer before starting back up the stairs. The short walk from the stairs to her bedroom was full of butterflies flitting in her stomach, a sweat building under her chest and on her back and hands. 

They sat down on the bed, a soft look on Victoria’s face and Julie wringing her hands. 

Victoria’s usual pushiness was temporarily replaced for patience, the woman recognizing the need for it in this instance. “Take your time.”

Julie sat there for a few minutes, occasionally opening her mouth to say something, but seeming to reconsider at the last second with a snap of her mouth. After a few repetitions of that, she finally managed to blurt out. “Am I a witch? Are _you_ a witch?”

Tía closed her eyes briefly, thinking over what she was about to say. “You are, and I am. Who told you?”

“A demon,” Julie muttered, casting her eyes to the side. 

“A what?”

“A…friend. He said I have an ‘aura of power’. Why didn’t mom tell me? Why didn’t you?”

“Usually, we tell the girls in the family when they turn seventeen. We may tell them before that if they showed clear signs of having powers they need to learn how to control. We didn’t think you had any, so we were going to wait until you were seventeen. But then your mom got sick, and she wasn’t able to tell you herself like she wanted to.” Tía leaned forward, covering Julie’s hands with her own earnestly. “I’m sorry, _niña_.”

“Could you tell me about it?” Julie asked, hope coloring her voice. 

Victoria nodded. “Of course. It’s something that is usually passed down through the female members of the _familia_. Some don’t receive any power, others receive different kinds. It depends on the person, and who their father is, since they may have a magical background as well.”

“Does _papá_?” 

“He knew about it, but it’s a very distant connection. Your _mamá_ had the magic of music, sound, it flowed through her veins and poured out of her finger tips and mouth with every key and lyric.”

Julie smiled, hugging a pillow to herself and relishing in the imagery Tía painted with her words. 

“Mine is a more minor kind. I have a talent for family genealogy, and for finding the connections and origins of our ancestors. Record-keeping, also.”

“And I have it?” Julie asked, her eyes widening. 

Tía nodded with a smile. “It’s a bit too early to tell what kind, but I think yours comes from music, like _Rosa_ , and from the way it helps you connect to people.”

“Woah,” Julie breathed. 

“Maybe that’s why you’re able to connect with those ghost boys of yours,” Tía added, glancing at Julie, whose eyebrows had shot up as she sputtered in denial.

Julie caught herself after a second, remembering the discussion they had been having and that Tía had admitted to being an actual _witch_. It’s not like it was necessary to keep this from her anymore, was it? She let the pillow fall slightly with a sigh. “Yeah, actually, that might be it.”

“I expect to meet these boys soon, Julie,” Victoria said, raising an eyebrow teasingly. 

“Tíaaaaaa,” Julie groaned, stuffing her face in her pillow.

——

Reggie had quickly made himself at home in the library, where Alex and Luke had already settled down with a stack of books. He plopped down next to Alex, scooching close and pulling a smaller book from the stack. Alex closed the one he had been reading and exchanged it for a new one.

The book was red, aged leather with curlicue patterns, the title _Love and Rituals_ written across it in sprawling gold font that was hard to decipher because it was so needlessly fancy. Alex flipped open to the first page, sighing in relief that the writing style didn’t match the first impression of the cover and settling in. 

The page would occasionally get blurry, the words becoming hard to read, and Alex would take a second to rub his eyes before refocusing. He was just getting tired. 

The silence was companionable, all three of the boys comfortable enough with the others that they didn’t feel the need to fill the quiet. It was a comfort born of years filled with sleepovers, before things got bad with their families and after. They had long since lost the need to communicate solely with words, nudges, blinks, quirks of the lips, vague hand movements taking place and saying what they needed to much faster than could be done verbally. 

It was a connection they had noticed between Julie and Flynn, actually, and that they were starting to form with Julie themselves. 

The silence is interrupted when Luke lets out a sound of triumph, a smile lighting up his face. 

“What is it dude?” Reggie asked, looking up from the book that so far hadn’t yielded any results about anything other than how the creation of charms worked. Which, yes, did interest him, but it wasn’t what he was looking for, so it was useless right now. 

“I was right, there’re different kinds of soulmates!” 

“Wait, really?” Alex’s eyes grew hopeful. 

“Yeah!” Luke looked back down at the book, reading through it before turning his attention back to Alex and Reggie. “It says that there are different kinds, and that you can have more than one. There’s—” he looked back down at the book—“friend soulmates, teachers, twin flame, and romantic. I’d guess there are probably other kinds too, like family and stuff. So even if we are all soulmates with Julie, maybe it’s different kinds?”

Alex let out an audible sigh of relief. “Yeah, that sounds a lot better.”

Reggie smirked. “Who knows, maybe Willie is one of yours.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively, laughing when Alex pushed him with a groan. 

“Come on dude!”

“I mean, we all know what kind Julie and Luke are.”

“Dude!” Luke groaned, stuffing his face out of view, his ears gaining color as if he were alive. 

“You know he’s right,” Alex laughed. He slung an arm around Luke’s shoulder.

“You know why it can’t happen!” Luke protested, his lips tilted down and his eyes glittering pitifully. 

“I mean, if Julie is a witch and soulmates exist, maybe it’s not a complete lost cause,” Reggie assured.

“Can we just not talk about this?”

Reggie and Alex shrugged, returning to their reading with lingering grins on their faces. Luke shook his head, trying to put the discussion out of mind before he went semi-catatonic like he had before. He didn’t like losing track of the world that way.

Luke went through the rest of the book, hoping it would elaborate on what it had already said, but it seemed like that was just a throwaway bit. A fun fact, something that wasn’t going to be explored in depth. He closed the book with a little more force than necessary, sliding it away and out of sight. 

Yeah, he had. 

Alex nudged the other two. “I found something.”

“Lay it on us bro,” Luke encouraged, rolling onto his side so he didn’t have to crane his neck to see the drummer. 

“‘ _Soulmates are a common occurrence in the world. Meeting one’s soulmates, however, is much more rare. When a group of soulmates have met each other and clicked together, they will find that their natural powers have been strengthened. Rituals never thought of before are now able to be performed without draining the caster exponentially_.’” Alex looked up, his face screwed up in thought. “So what? We get new powers? Or…oh. This is probably why people can hear us when we play, and see us when we play with Julie.”

“That makes sense!” Reggie said excitedly, bouncing a bit where he lay. 

Alex peered at the page. “There’s more, but there’s some water damage and it’s been torn, so I can’t make it out. There’s something else on the next page, though. It says that even if the soulmate connections within the group are different between different people, it doesn’t make it any less important. ‘ _When given time, all soulmate bonds have equal ability to flourish_.’”

“So are we gonna get more powerful the closer we get?” Luke asked. 

“But when will it stop? Is it endless as we all get closer, and we’ll just keep growing in power until we’re no longer here or together?”

Luke shrugged. “I guess we’ll just have to find out. Maybe the book has more information?”

“Maybe.”

They returned to their reading, Alex’s feet kicking back and forth behind him anxiously. Everything else was just repeating the same thing. One of the damaged parts started with _Beware_ , but he couldn’t make out anything else, so hopefully it wasn’t important (who was he kidding, with their luck it would be of utmost importance). 

A few hours passed without them noticing, too caught up in the search for even the vaguest mention of soulmates. Unfortunately, no more monumental discoveries were made. The three boys looked up when they heard barely-there footsteps bounding up the steps. 

Caleb peeked in before stepping past the threshold to the library. His chest was heaving slightly, a single forelock of hair falling to his forehead and his blue eyes glittering. “You boys doing okay?” He asked. 

Alex shrugged. “We found a few things, so it’s not going too bad I guess.”

Caleb nodded. “Good, that’s good. I don’t have enough time right now, but later on you can catch me up on what you’ve found. As it is, though, do you need any snacks to get your energy up?”

Luke smiled, his eyes lighting up from their previously exhausted state. “That would be great, thanks.”

“Of course. I’ll have it sent up when I go downstairs in a minute. Did you guys find anything particularly interesting about soulmates?”

Luke nodded earnestly, his hair flopping slightly. It was getting longer, curls showing wildly. “Yeah, there are different types! I was right. Also, you can have more than one.”

Caleb’s eyes widened in slight amusement. “Of course you can have more than one. Alex does, doesn’t he?”

Alex’s eyes narrowed in confusion as he cocked his head to the side. “I…do? What do you mean?”

Caleb looked down at his wristwatch. “Why, Willie, of course. Who else would I be talking about?”

Luke and Reggie’s faces broke into shit-eating grins as they jostled Alex teasingly. Alex, whose jaw had dropped and eyes had widened, freezing like a deer in the headlights. 

Caleb smirked at something unrelated, either not noticing Alex’s reaction or not finding it important enough to mention. “Anyway,” he said, looking up, “I’ve got to get back. Stay as long as you need, I’ll have snacks and refreshments that you can actually eat sent up in a few moments.”

Caleb turned on his heel then, vanishing within the blink of an eye. 

Alex was still frozen, but he closed his mouth with a gulp, meeting the eyes of Reggie and Luke with wide eyes. 

“I…do not know what to do with that information,” he confessed, his mind whirling with the implications that came with Caleb’s nonchalant declaration. 

Luke exchanged glances with Reggie, shaking his head with a cheesy smile as he turned his attention back to Alex and prepared to talk him through the impending spiral.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My citations for this chapter:  
> Witch Stuff: https://www.flyingthehedge.com/2014/09/grimoire-vs-book-of-shadows.html?m=1  
> Soulmates stuff: https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-22169/you-have-4-kinds-of-soul-mates-heres-how-to-recognize-each-one.html  
> And fun fact! Binders were invented in 1872, at least according to the very first thing that popped up on google, so we’re going with that.  
> Side note: I am not wicca, and tbh I don’t know much about it (not for lack of trying when I was younger). So, if I misrepresented or was offensive in any way, please please please let me know, it was not my intent.  
> Anyway, that was a nice long chapter since last one was so short. As always, you can come yell at me on tumblr!  
> my main: blerghfish (i post poetry-prose, my works that are unrelated to JatP, and requests are open)  
> my jatp blog: julie-and-the-phat-ones (all my JatP stuff, hcs, my works, some of my poetry if I feel like it, and I reblog stuff)  
> my in-character caleb ask blog: askcaleb-themagician
> 
> All of you are wonderful and lovely and I love you all, thank you for taking the time out of your day and energy to read this fic, which I am having so much fun writing.


	7. The Moment You’ve All Been Waiting For...Actually Not Quite

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flynn nudged her with a grin. “Hell yeah we got this.” She took a second to consider something before asking, “So what’s happening with the gig tomorrow? Do you think it’s still a good idea, now that the demon revealed himself?”
> 
> Julie nodded vehemently. “Of course we’re still doing the gig. We can’t _not_ , that’s like letting the demon win without putting up a fight.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is late but it was necessary. Updates will be on Saturdays from now on so that I can not have to worry about it on a school day. I hope you all enjoy this one, because it’s when things really start to pick up. Not quite, but the last line or so is, so next chapter will be. All I know is that I’m writing and watching tv to distract from my fam’s current covid situation, so if y’all can send some positive vibes I would love that. If you don’t have the energy, then don’t worry ily anyway!
> 
> Anyway, thank you for your patience everybody and I hope you enjoy!

Alex was, fortunately, saved from the impending spiral by Willie _poof_ ing in, a grin on his face and his hair in disarray.

“‘Sup Hotdog,” Willie greeted with a grin. 

Alex smiled nervously, lifting a hand in a small wave. He looked at Reggie and Luke, who gave him imploring looks and small nudges. Alex looked back at Willie, clearing his throat and asking softly, “Uh, could we—uh—that is—can we talk?”

Willie’s eyebrows furrowed as he nodded, cocking his head slightly. “Yeah, of course. Here or somewhere else?”

“Hollywood sign?”

“Yeah, that works.”

Alex poofed out first, Willie following not even a split second later and leaving Reggie and Luke alone to trade mischievous grins. 

“So what was it you wanted to talk about?” Willie asked, his legs swinging like a juvenile as they sat in the hole of the first ‘O’. 

“So, the demon visited us, and—” 

“Wait what!” Willie took Alex’s shoulders in his hands, his eyes raking over him in search of any injuries. 

Alex put his hands over Willie’s with a comforting smile. “Relax, we’re all fine.”

Willie pursed his lips but let Alex go. “You were saying?” He prompted after a second. 

“Oh, yeah—anyway, the demon visited us, and Julie too. He, uh, said that we were all soulmates—the band that is—and that Julie’s a witch. So Luke, Reg, and I were doing research before you showed up. I just…I don’t know how to be a soulmate, right? Are there certain requirements you need to meet? What classifies a relationship as ‘soulmates’? And—” 

“Woah, woah,” Willie laughed lightly, holding up a hand. “Dude, too many questions at once.”

Alex flushed, looking down and rubbing his forearm. “Yeah, heh, whoops. There, uh…there was one other thing, actually.”

“Yeah?”

“CalebsaidthatyouandIaresoulmates,” Alex rushed out, making it hard for Willie to discern where one word stopped and the next started. 

“Repeat that back to me a bit slower?” Willie asked with a laugh.

Alex avoided Willie’s gaze, looking at the skyline as he enunciated, “Caleb said that you and I are soulmates.”

Willie’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“And I don’t wanna pressure you or anything! That’s the last thing I want to do, I promise! I just…thought you should know? And I really, _really_ , like you. If you don’t, uh, feel the same way, then that’s perfectly fine, I swear! I just thought that maybe, y’know, you did, but I probably misread everything and I’m just screwing this up aren’t I? God—” 

Willie put a hand on Alex’s shoulder, looking into his eyes intensely, small crinkles forming at the corners from his smile. “I feel the same way. You didn’t misread anything, I promise.”

Alex’s face broke into a relieved grin as he seemed to release a breath of relief. “Good. That’s, uh, that’s great. I just, uh…Like I said, I don’t know how being a soulmate works? And I really don’t wanna screw this up ‘cause—like I said, I _really_ like you.”

Willie chuckled, nudging Alex playfully. “I really like you too.” His eyes were twinkling with humor, but Alex could tell he was completely serious when he said it. “We can just…take things a bit slow, I guess, make sure we do this right?”

Alex nodded, his fingers drumming on his thighs as he ducked his head bashfully. “I’d like that.”

They sat there for a bit longer, the silence companionable and without any need to be filled. Alex broke it after a second, clearing his throat as he tried to gather up the courage. His voice was quiet, when he asked, nervous, but he was certain. “Can I…kiss you?”

Willie felt a slow grin break out across his face, nodding soundlessly and leaning in. Their lips met tentatively as they both scooted closer to the other. They didn’t go further than touching lips chastely, a tender feeling spreading through them as they both broke apart and met eyes. Alex and Willie smiled at each other, giddiness rising in the two of them as they leaned against the other and settled to look out over the LA skyline. 

——

Tía had left not long after discussing the witch thing with Julie, and Carlos had retreated to his bedroom with the laptop to look up more things about ghosts. And witches. He was _very_ excited about this new development, and Julie had no doubt that he would research it obsessively for a while. 

“So why were you here?” Julie asked. Other people might have taken it the wrong way, but Flynn could tell what Julie meant. 

Flynn grabbed the black journal from where she had set it at the foot of the bed. “This.”

“And ‘this’ is what, exactly…?” Julie’s eyes were twinkling as she teased. 

Flynn gave her a look. “I was getting to that.” She opened the journal to the same page she had shown Tía, pointing to a spot on the page with her finger. “Read this.”

Julie cocked her head before looking down at the journal and reading, her eyebrows furrowing. Her eyes narrowed as they moved further down the page, looking up to Flynn with a disbelieving raise of the eyebrows. “You don’t mean—” 

“I talked to your tía about it, and I found this in Caleb’s library. Tía says she thinks she could do it, we just need to do more research so we know how to do it right!” Flynn bounced on the bed, the springs helping her move up and down in excitement. 

Julie laughed, placing her hands on Flynn’s shoulders to still her. “That’s great! We can ask Caleb about it next time we go over there. The boys will be excited!”

Flynn smiled at Julie softly. She cleared her throat, tossing the journal back to the foot of the bed. “So, what did you wanna talk to your Tía about?”

Julie bit her lip, looking down at where her hands were clasped in her lap. “We found out who the demon is possessing,” she said quietly, her eyes watering.

Flynn’s eyes grew wide. “Wait really?! Who?”

“It’s—uh—the demon is Nick.”

“Oh, honey,” Flynn gasped quietly, taking Julie’s hands in hers. Her grip tightened as she realized something. “Oh my god. Nick came up to talk to you. It…wasn’t to ask you out on a date again, was it.” Her eyes were widened in horror as she raked her gaze over Julie repeatedly to check for any injuries of the sort. 

Julie let out a wet laugh. “No, it wasn’t. He visited the boys too. Told us both different things, though I don’t know why.”

“What did he tell you?” Flynn asked gently, pulling Julie into a firm hug. 

“Said I was a witch—and I guess you now know Tía is too—and told the boys that we were all soulmates. They’re over at Caleb’s doing research now. I came back to ask Tía about it, once Caleb told me that it’s something that’s usually passed down through the family.” Julie melted into Flynn’s embrace, sniffling. Her nose was still congested, and the rock in her throat wasn’t helping her breathe or lessening the mucus she could feel building up. 

“ _All_ of you are soulmates?” Flynn asked, an eyebrow raising even though Julie couldn’t see it. 

Julie giggled, nodding. “Yeah, Luke thinks maybe there are different kinds, and that we’re not necessarily the same type to one another.”

“Oh, that makes sense! And maybe Tía can help you with the witch stuff now, right?”

Julie sighed. “Yeah, she probably can.”

“What’s wrong?”

Julie shrugged. “Aside from the obvious? Nick is a nice guy, he doesn’t deserve this.”

“Hey.” Flynn turned Julie around and sat her up to look her firmly in the eyes. “We will get him back, alright? He’s not gone, just…asleep. We’ll get him back, and we’ll bring the boys back to life, and we’ll kick this demon’s ass, yeah?”

Julie smiled, her eyes red from crying and dried salt tracks snaking down her face as she nodded. “Yeah, alright. We got this.”

Flynn nudged her with a grin. “Hell yeah we got this.” She took a second to consider something before asking, “So what’s happening with the gig tomorrow? Do you think it’s still a good idea, now that the demon revealed himself?”

Julie nodded vehemently. “Of course we’re still doing the gig. We can’t _not_ , that’s like letting the demon win without putting up a fight.”

Flynn sighed. “I get it, I just want you guys to be safe.”

“I know.” Julie smiled. She grinned, grabbing Flynn and pulling her down onto their backs so they could see the ceiling as Flynn broke into laughter. 

The whooshing _poof_ sound came from their right, and Julie turned to look, smiling when she saw Luke and Reggie. “Hey, guys. What’s up?”

Alex _poof_ ed in before they could answer, and Julie repeated her question to include him. Alex shrugged, muttering nothing. Luke and Reggie exchanged smirking glances, and Julie cocked her head. 

“Caleb said that Willie is Alex’s _soouuul_ mate,” Luke crooned, pulling Alex in for a jostling side-hug before releasing him. 

Alex ducked his head, murmuring something under his breath.

Julie laughed. “That’s great, Alex! Cant say I’m surprised, though,” she added mischievously. 

Flynn looked at the people in the room, pulled Julie in for a hug. “Well I just remembered that I didn’t finish that…uh…that essay! Yeah, the essay. I’m gonna go and finish that, seeyoubye!” She hugged Julie one last time and then raced out of the room, leaving the four left staring after her in confusion. 

“Bye…?” Julie said quietly, turning back to the boys with a laugh and shake of her head. “So, what’d you guys find?”

“I was right!” Luke burst out, then seemed to regret it as his shoulders hiked up to his ears. 

Julie cackled, tossing her head back and then looking at him with a soft, teasing grin. “Is that right?”

Luke ducked his head and nodded before he looked back up. “Yeah. There are different types of soulmates! And there’re soulmate groups, too, though I guess they’re kinda rare.”

Julie laid on her stomach, propping her head up with her hands and nodding for Luke to continue. 

He looked at the boys and then back at her. “And it says that being in a soulmate group that’s managed to find each other can give you certain powers, so we think that’s why people can hear and see us when we play. It also seemed like we could…power up, in the future, and that’s probably why we can become visible and tangible sometimes now.”

“That’s so cool! I wonder if any other things will pop up for abilities…” Julie trailed off, rubbing her chin in thought. 

Reggie sat down at the foot of the bed, and Julie let him, for now. Alex sat in a chair near the bed and Luke fell horizontally across the bed, turning around so his face wasn’t stuffed in the mattress. “Yeah,” he laughed. “But enough about that, what happened with your tía?”

“So Caleb was right, and it’s passed down through the female members of the family. There are different types too! My mom’s was music, and Tía thinks that it’s the same for me, but that mine is also through the connection I get with people from our music.”

Reggie laughed. “I seem to remember someone saying something similar the night of our…accident.”

Luke flushed, groaning and flopping his forearm over his eyes. “Come on, dude.”

“What, he’s right,” Alex grinned, a teasing twinkle in his eye at the chance to get back at Luke for teasing him about Willie. 

Luke lowered his arm specifically to sit up a bit and glare at Alex. “Rude.”

Alex shrugged, laughing with Julie and Reggie at Luke’s puppy pout. It had long since lost its ability to put him off teasing the boy, instead making it more fun. 

“Anyway,” Luke tried to distract, “It’s no surprise that that’s where your power comes from.”

Julie shrugged. “I guess not.”

They sat in silence, then, as they all lost themselves in their heads thinking through the new information they’d been given. Julie let out a puff of air, rolling to her side and saying softly, “If you guys wanted to…stay here tonight, and rest, then you can. I won’t kick you out this time.”

Luke smiled at her teasingly and Alex chuckled lightly. 

“Thanks Julie,” Reggie nudged her gently and she responded by nudging him back with her foot. 

“You should probably get some sleep,” Luke suggested. “So you’re better for the gig tomorrow.”

Julie nodded, sniffling and rubbing her nose. “Yeah, you’re right.” She shuffled, working herself underneath her covers and closing her eyes with a sigh. 

——

The next day passed quickly, the boys and Julie spending it cuddling and her doing homework. Flynn texted around dinner to tell Julie she would help her get ready later. Julie bit her lip as she worked out a problem for precalc, but looked up when she heard a knock on the door. 

“Hey, _mija_ ,” Ray sniffled, his eyes puffy and red with congestion. “Are you and the boys ready for your gig tonight?”

Reggie bobbed his head, a bright smile illuminating his face. “You bet we are. Right guys?”

Alex and Luke nodded, and Julie gave a thumbs up. “I’ll be ready,” she promised, smiling at her dad. “Are you going to be okay to drive me and Flynn?”

Ray waved a dismissive hand. “Of course, honey. I’ll be fine. I’m going to go make grilled cheese. You boys can join us for dinner if you’d like.”

“We can’t eat, Mr. Molina,” Alex reminded softly, smiling to let him know that he appreciated the sentiment. 

“Doesn’t mean you cannot have family time with the rest of us. And it’s Ray, I have told you this.”

Alex’s smile widened slightly as he ducked his head. 

“I can help you with the grilled cheese, Mr—Ray,” Luke offered. 

Julie giggled. “You cook?” 

“Oh dude,” Reggie groaned. “Luke is the best. He helped out his mom whenever we came over and it was always amazing.”

Julie cocked an eyebrow. “Oh really? I didn’t know that.”

Luke shrugged, grinning sheepishly and turning back to Ray with a questioning look on his face. 

Ray nodded his head, his eyes crinkled. “Of course you can help, _mijo_. God knows I probably need it.”

They all laughed at that, and Ray turned around to leave before Luke _poof_ ed downstairs.

Julie had just finished the precalc worksheet when Ray’s voice called up hoarsely to let them know it was dinner time. Julie and the boys winced at the obvious strain yelling put on Ray’s voice, but went downstairs to where they were served with grilled cheese and tomato soup. The boys sat quietly, occasionally joining in on the banter. 

Luke smirked at Reggie and Alex before darting his hand forward and sticking a finger into Julie’s tomato soup, sticking the finger covered in soup back into his mouth with a playful grin. 

“Luke!” Julie chided, laughing. Her laughter died down with a sudden thought, her mouth dropping slightly open. “Oh my god, _Luke_.”

“Yeah?” Luke asked his eyebrows furrowing even though he was still smiling from the joke. 

“You just _ate_ something!” Julie cheered, tossing her hands up and grinning at him. Luke sat back down harshly in shock as he looked at the boys. 

“I…I did.” He cleared his throat, something he found himself doing more often within the past couple of days. It was probably due to practice, but it would be fine for tonight. 

“Here.” Julie pushed her bowl forward insistently, ignoring the waiting eyes of Ray and Carlos as Luke stuck a finger into the soup again and tried to stick it in his mouth like he had before, but it didn’t work.

He wiped his finger off with a slight pout, looking back up at Julie and muttering pathetically, “It didn’t work.”

Julie’s bright grin only faltered slightly, but it stayed on her face for the most part. “Are you kidding? You still managed to do it once! Maybe it means something!”

Ray surveyed the table, getting up to start clearing dishes and nudging Carlos to tell him to help. Carlos groaned quietly but complied, grabbing the utensils that hadn’t been used and taking them to the kitchen. 

“Listen,” Julie said, going to sit next to the boys so she could be closer. “Flynn said she found something in Caleb’s library one of the first times we were there.”

“What did she find? And why didn’t she tell us about it before?” Alex asked, leaning forward in anticipation. 

“It’s this small, black leather bound journal by some guy in the past. It seems like it mentions a ritual that can be used to bring ghosts back to life. Flynn talked to my tía earlier, and she said it could probably work if we prep everything properly.”

Ray came back in to grab the last of the plates. “Remember that we’re leaving by eight thirty, _mija_ , so make sure you are ready by then.”

“Got it _papá_ ,” Julie confirmed with a brief smile, turning back to the boys. 

“Wait so like… _life_ life? Like being lifers again?” Reggie asked, his eyebrows up to his hairline and his eyes wide. 

Julie nodded. “That’s what we think, yeah.”

“So we could—we could be _alive_ again,” Luke breathed, looking off into space. 

Alex’s leg was jiggling and his fingers were drumming over his thigh repeatedly, but he smiled. “Would we—we should see if Caleb has any more information about this ritual, right? And maybe we should introduce Caleb and Tía? And Caleb and Ray?”

Julie nodded. “Yeah, probably. Although I should go get ready. Flynn…just texted saying she’s coming up the driveway and will meet me in my room. I’ll meet you guys at the gig when it’s time.” She got up and walked up to her room, casting an excited grin at the boys before turning around to go get ready.

Flynn opened the door and greeted the boys a moment later before going upstairs to help Julie. 

“I told them about the ritual you showed me earlier,” Julie confessed, rifling through her mom’s trunk to find her outfit for the night. The nighttime of LA was starting to get chillier since it was spoopy season.

She shared a grin with Flynn when she pulled out the Sunset Curve t-shirt from her mom, pairing it with a short purple and red skirt and gold shorts to go underneath it, a black, ripped denim vest completing the look. 

Flynn set out the hair supplies and makeup while Julie got dressed, beckoning her friend to sit down with a playful smile, “Come, let me work my magic on you.”

Julie rolled her eyes in amusement, but sat down in the chair patiently as Flynn started the hairstyle, a twist that trapped the hair from one side of her head and brought it over to the other, creating a mohawk effect. 

Julie did her makeup when she could, creating a light smoky eye and using red-tinted lipgloss. Flynn had put on some music when they started, and Julie hummed along under her breath while both she and Flynn finished. Flynn did some makeup for herself before declaring the both of them ready for action, which Julie took with an amused smile and shake of her head. “I’m gonna go let the boys know we’re ready to leave so they can meet us there,” Julie said, hopping a bit to put her shoes on before walking out the door. 

“Cool, I’ll go let your dad know we’re ready to go,” Flynn put the hair supplies away and followed after Julie a second later. 

The boys were fooling around on the couch area when Julie went out to the studio to let them know she was leaving. She cleared her throat, laughing when the drumstick Alex had been twirling in his hand flew out of it and nailed Luke on the cheek. “You okay?” She managed through her giggles. 

“Ha ha, laugh it up,” Luke retorted, crossing his arms even though his lips quirked upward slightly. 

“I will. Anyway, we’re leaving, so you guys can poof there in a second and wait for me if you want.”

“Cool. We’ll meet you there,” Luke promised. 

Julie nodded with a shaky smile, turning around before anything else could happen and leaving the studio to get in the car. The boys waited a few minutes, until they’d heard the car from the Molinas’ driveway take off and all that could be heard was the sound of crickets and sparse nightlife. 

“Let’s go boys.”

——

The venue was packed with people as Julie, Flynn, and Ray walked into the doorway. Julie could spot several producers and managers at different places in the room, a place that smelled like the whiskey she had once caught her dad drinking and a small hint of fire coming from the kitchens. The stage was a few feet up from the floor, steps leading up to it and nothing on it. 

“You ready for tonight? Not feeling too sick?” Ray checked, placing his hand up against Julie’s forehead. “You feel a bit cold…” He mused. 

Julie laughed. “C’mon, dad, that’s because you’re running a slight fever. I feel cold because I’m normal temperature and you’re hotter than usual.”

Ray smiled, shrugging sheepishly. “Still, I don’t want you straining yourself.”

“I won’t, dad, promise. I’m all set for tonight, feeling almost completely better, and I can get rest tonight and tomorrow, okay?”

Ray sighed. “Fine, but if this had not already been scheduled you wouldn’t be doing it. You shouldn’t do this stuff when you’re sick, _mija_.”

“I know, dad. It doesn’t happen all that often, though, and I’ll be fine.” Julie craned her head, looking for the boys and smiling when she spotted them. They were sitting on one of the stools and waving to get her attention. 

“I see your boys are already here,” Ray grinned. 

“They can teleport, dad, it’s not that unexpected,” Julie scoffed laughingly. 

The time passed at a snail’s pace, but when it was finally time to go on, the boys disappeared from the sight of everyone but Julie and she allowed her dad and Flynn to nudge her forward. 

She placed the microphone into the stand slowly, careful not to drop it as she smiled out to the crowd. “Hi everybody. These are some new songs me and the band have been working on. Hope you like it.”

She sat down at the keyboard, casting one last look to the audience before allowing herself to start the first song, losing herself in the music. When the boys _poof_ ed on, she grinned at the gasps that echoed around the room. That would never get old. 

The set was only a few songs, since other people had to go on, but it was just as much fun as all of their other performances. At one point, all four of them were on the drum stand serenading each other back and forth, large grins on their faces as they bounced and moved with the music they were creating. A look out at the crowd showed they were just as into the performance as the performers, bouncing up and cheering to the music. Loud shouts of encouragement erupted when Julie held a high note, when Luke’s vocals held his trademark growl. 

Sooner than later, it was all over, and they were left standing on the stage, their chests heaving and sweat dripping. Julie looked at the boys as they stood up and all bowed, the boys disappearing as they did. Julie laughed when a new round of cheers started at their disappearance, the energy filling her heart and coursing through her veins. 

“Thanks for coming. We’re Julie and the Phantoms, tell your friends,” she smirked as she said this, the crowd shouting and laughing at the iconic line while Julie pulled her microphone out of the stand and started down the steps. 

The boys appeared in a decently lit back room the venue had said was open to them after their performance. They stayed invisible as the band in there packed up their things and left.

“Dudes that was so good!” Luke bounced, grabbing both Alec and Reggie by the shoulders and shaking them a bit. “Reg you were killin’ it up there!”

Alex nodded. “You definitely were.”

Reggie shrugged, but his embarrassment was overshadowed by the bright smile lighting up his face. “Yeah, okay, I was. But so were you guys and Julie!”

Luke pinned Reggie with a look. “C’mon dude, Julie _always_ kills it.”

Alex laughed, “You’re right, she does.”

Reggie rubbed his ears, a slight ringing echoing in them from the volume. Luke sniffled and rubbed his nose surreptitiously, aborting the motion when the door opened and Julie and Flynn entered. 

“I’ve said it already but I’ll say it again: you guys were great! I love the new songs!” Flynn cheered, pulling Julie in for a side hug and then falling onto the room’s couch. 

Julie laughed. “Thanks Flynn.”

“How’s your throat?” Alex asked, the other two looking at Julie for her answer expectantly. 

She shrugged. “Nothing some tea won’t fix.”

“You sure?” Luke’s eyebrows were furrowed with concern. 

“I’m sure.” Julie directed a scolding gaze at him, and he put his arms up in surrender. 

“How long have you guys been working on those songs?” Flynn asked, propping herself up on her elbows.

“About a week and a half.” Julie slung her arms around Luke and Reggie, smiling. 

“They’re really good. Have anything—” 

Luke interrupted her, his head cocking to the side as he noticed Alex’s wide eyes. “Dude you goo—” He asked, turning around and trailing off when he saw who was in the doorway. He pulled the others slightly behind him, but Julie forced herself to his side. 

Julie’s mind briefly flickered to the suit he had been wearing in her daydream for “I Got the Music,” but she forced herself to focus back on the matter at hand.

“Billy,” Luke greeted with a small smirk. 

Billy scowled in annoyance before smirking and stepping closer. “Well done up there, kids.”

Alex shivered as a tingle went down his spine. Maybe Ray or Caleb would get there sooner to help. 

…

They had to, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you liked it, let me know what you think!
> 
> Also, come give me a shout on tumblr!  
> my main: blerghfish  
> my jatp sideblog: julie-and-the-phat-ones  
> my in-character ask blog: askcaleb-themagician
> 
> I love talking and I love talking with people, so you’ll never bother me if you send an ask, a fic drabble request (they’re currently open), or just to talk/vent, I’m here for you all and ily.


	8. See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The tension melted out of her when she saw her dad, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of the room. 
> 
> “What happened?!” He cried, going over to Julie and running his hands over her head carefully, examining her for anything else and looking at Nick’s unconscious body and then the others. 
> 
> Julie’s eyes began to water, and she held in a sob as she threw herself into her dad’s arms. “There’s a demon,” she stuttered out, burying her head in his shoulder.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What’s up everybody. Hope y’all are okay and that your families are healthy or will be. We left on a very oof cliffhanger, so have fun finding out where it’s going! Anyway, to my new readers, welcome! To those that have been here since the beginning or even since the last chapter, welcome back!
> 
> teensy warning: there are a few swear words in this chapter, sorry
> 
> edit: I am slowly getting notes from my beta so a few things may change within the first hour or so of this being posted, sorry guys

“Billy,” Luke greeted with a small smirk, trying to cover his concern. 

Billy scowled in annoyance before smirking and stepping closer. “Well done up there, kids.”

Alex shivered as a tingle went down his spine. Maybe Ray or Caleb would get there sooner to help. 

…

They had to, right? 

Until then, though, what were they supposed to do?

Alex froze when Nick’s eyes rolled up in his head and his body collapsed to the ground like a sack, a solid _thump_ sounding as a black cloud streamed out of his mouth, hovering in the air menacingly before charging at the kids. 

Flynn yelped and Reggie gave a short shriek as Luke pushed everyone behind himself, Julie fighting to stand at his side. Luke clenched his eyes shut and squeezed Alex’s hand, his breath hitching when he felt something pass through him and _stay there_. A harsh shock flowed through his body and the felt something pour out of his mouth, his throat burning as he bent double and fell to the floor, the shouts of the others echoing in his ears while he tried to breath around the vice on his chest. 

While Julie was relieved the anti-possession charm worked, it looked like the demon had managed to do _something_ , because Luke was kneeling, bent over on the ground heaving and gasping hoarsely. She tried to go to him but stopped and cried out when the cloud went straight for Alex. 

“It’s not going to work, dammit! _Please!_ ” She tried to tell the demon, but the only sign of it having heard was a slight hesitation before it streamed in a long and thin strand to Alex, the boy clutching his head and crying out as the smoke cloud seemed to be spit out his eyes. 

Reggie had run to Luke, rubbing his back and checking if he was okay. He didn’t see the sulfurous-smelling mass coming for him before it went straight into his back, causing it to go rigid and arc as Reggie teetered worryingly, falling on his side slightly and writhing as it jettisoned from his ears. Julie looked around in a panic, grabbing Flynn’s arm and a pillow and holding it in front of them, even if it wasn’t going to do much. 

The cloud floated around them, circling and forcing them to circle with it so it wasn’t at their backs. Julie cast a worried look at the boys, her vision blurred by tears, looking back just in time to see the demon dart back into Nick. She growled, _why couldn’t it choose another host_. Julie knew that sounded horrible, but Nick didn’t deserve this. 

Then again, if the demon chose another host they wouldn’t be able to find him as easily. 

Julie looked worriedly at Nick before turning and running to Reggie and Luke, Flynn going to Alex. Julie put a hand on Reggie’s shoulder to shake him and then try and wake Luke up. He rolled on his back, an arm over his stomach as he choked and coughed, his voice hoarse as he asked, “You okay Reg?”

Reggie nodded slightly, careful not to move his head because he was already feeling nauseous and his ears were ringing, Luke’s voice coming from down a tunnel. 

A dark chuckle echoed across the room, and Julie looked up with a glare. The demon was hunched over, his eyes glowing as he sneered, “Maybe get rid of those pesky anti-possession charms and see if you have the ability to take me on like a _man_. Without the help of those sissy devices.”

Alex shook his head, placing his hands and rubbing his eyes. “I think I’m going to keep mine on, thanks.”

“If the devices are sissy then you’re the sissy for not being able to get past them,” Julie sneered, running a hand through Luke’s hair. 

Billy started forward, pausing when a microphone nailed him in the sternum. He gaped, looking at the fallen microphone on the ground and then the person who threw it. Julie snorted, looking back at Flynn. “You know you just hit Nick, right? The body Billy is possessing?”

Flynn shrugged, not an ounce of regret on her face. 

Billy growled, flinging out a hand and sending them all crashing against a wall like Julie had once seen in a tv show. Her head crashed against the surface and she groaned, cradling it when they fell to the floor. She noted in concern the wheezing and hoarse growl that was echoing from Luke’s throat. 

Nick collapsed to the floor again and Julie noted with concern how his head knocked against the floor for the second time that night. He would have a really bad headache later when he woke up. The black fog seeped out and seemed to crackle in the air maliciously, causing Julie to tense in preparation, before seeping under the door. She relaxed imperceptibly, looking over to the boys and exchanging a worried look with Flynn, who was hovering over Alex.

——

_The hotel room was posh, a big bed in a room separate to the sitting room. Billy and a woman, dressed in a nice, blood-red jumpsuit and matching lipstick with her hair drawn into a severe ponytail, sitting across from each other on a couch and chair, respectively. Billy gestured animatedly._

__

“I’m telling you, I’ll be able to get the power of that band. They’re kids, what could they hope to beat me?”

__

The woman sighed, swirling the wine in her glass absentmindedly. “I’m just saying, you’re a misogynistic asshole, so don’t underestimate them because they’re children or because one of them’s a girl.”

__

_Billy cast a scathing look at her and then outside, where the city lights lit up the sky in place of the stars. “I’ve been low on the food chain for too long. Just you wait, see them call me a bottom when I’m on_ top _!”_

__

She snorted, covering her laugh up by taking a sip of wine. He looked so self-important, and it would be so funny to tell him the connotations behind what he had just said, but it would be more fun to let him continue to embarrass himself. The woman shrugged. “If you succeed. Anyway, I have to get back to doing my job, not being distracted by a petty wannabe. Let me know if you have anything substantial, but don’t waste my time like this again.”

__

_“Wait—!” But she had already disappeared, leaving a few garnet-colored sparkles on the chair she had been sitting in. The wine glass had disappeared with her. Billy sat back with a frustrated sigh._

——

Julie sat up with a wince, rubbing her head and looking over at the others. Flynn was holding her wrist against her body, but smiled shakily at Julie when she asked if she was okay. The boys were all blinking dazedly, and Julie tried to place a hand on Luke’s shoulder but passed straight through. 

“Are you guys okay?” She settled for asking, internally freaking out. What if they destabilized? Was that a thing ghosts do? What if the possession attempt had messed up her ability to touch them? For them to be tangible? _Oh my god what if I stop being able to see them_ , she worried. 

Flynn’s good hand on her bicep brought her back to reality, and Flynn locked eyes with her to ask if she was alright. Julie took in a shaky breath, nodding and looking at Nick, who was still collapsed in a heap on the floor, unconscious. 

“Go check up on Nick, we’ll be fine,” Alex urged, making a shooing motion. Julie bit her lip, looking at Luke and Reggie worriedly before steeling herself and getting up to go to Nick. The room seemed to swim for a second, but stabilized quickly, and the only outward sign was a brief hesitation before walking. 

The door opened just as Julie arrived by Nick’s side, and she and the others looked up in a panic, bracing themselves for anything else. The tension melted out of her when she saw her dad, his eyes widening as he took in the sight of the room. 

“What happened?!” He cried, going over to Julie and running his hands over her head carefully, examining her for anything else and looking at Nick’s unconscious body and then the others. 

Julie’s eyes began to water, and she held in a sob as she threw herself into her dad’s arms. “There’s a demon,” she stuttered out, burying her head in his shoulder. 

“A _demon_?” He hugged back just as fiercely, but pushed her away to check her over again. Ray leaned over and checked Nick’s pulse, sighing with relief at the relatively normal rhythm. He got up to check on the boys and Flynn, explaining, “When you guys took so long to come to the car I got worried.”

He knelt down, tapping the arm Flynn was holding to her chest in an order to let him examine it. He quietly asked her to straighten out her fingers and wiggle them, palpating the area around the wrist gently. “Good news, it’s just a minor sprain. I have a brace at home you can use and some ice to put on it first. Let’s get you all home and then we can discuss everything.”

“I can poof over to Caleb’s and let him know what happened. He should know,” Luke offered, his voice rasping and quiet. 

Ray nodded hesitantly. “He’s the one whose library you all hang out at, correct?”

Reggie nodded. “Yeah.” 

“You might as well, he can probably help explain what this demon business is,” Ray sighed. He nodded to Luke, who gave a playful mock salute and then stood up, disappearing with a distorted _poof_. 

Julie winced at the crackle in the sound. She hadn’t heard that before. 

The reason behind the rice krispy sound effect became clear barely a second later when it occurred again, and Luke phased in and out of existence for a millisecond, finally becoming corporeal and collapsing bonelessly to the floor. He clutched at his head and winced, his body wracked with tremors. Julie hurried over to him, checking him over. 

“Are you okay? What happened?” She ran her hands over his head, searching for any visible bumps or bruises. 

Luke shook his head. “I—I don’t know. I think I appeared for a second but then I just—got lost. Like in limbo, felt untethered.”

Julie exchanged a worried look with her dad and Alex and Reggie. Everyone froze in place again when another, healthier sounding _poof_ (and what had her life come to, that a _poof_ that’s normally only found on television could be considered healthy or not) broke through the air. Julie sagged when she saw Caleb standing there, a worried look eclipsing his face as he surveyed the scene. 

“What on earth happened?” He met eyes with Ray and then looked over the kids. “Is Luke alright? He seemed to fizzle when he appeared at the club.”

Julie looked up from where she had taken to rubbing small circles on Luke’s back. “He tried to go get you but he barely made it before being brought back. He said he felt like he was in limbo.”

Caleb’s eyes widened, and he muttered something, hovering a hand over Luke’s head and moving to his heart. “He’s too weak to teleport, he shouldn’t have tried. If you don’t have the proper strength or anchor you can become lost, similar, from what I hear, to what happened to the boys when they first died.”

Julie’s vision blurred with salty tears as she considered the possibility that an innocent suggestion could have meant Luke was lost to her forever. He was here, though, that’s what mattered. 

“And who are you?” Ray asked, stepping forward with a questioning eyebrow raised. 

Caleb stood up, offering a hand. “Caleb Covington, I own a ghost club—a safe haven, of sorts—and the library your daughter and her friends have been doing research at the past week or so.”

Ray took the hand and shook it firmly. “Obviously you have helped the kids, so thank you. And, if you are okay with it, I may ask you some questions about this whole ghost thing. I knew about magic, but ghosts…” He shrugged helplessly. 

Caleb nodded, looking at the kids. “Of course. And I can take the boys back to the studio at your house if you’re okay with driving the girls and Nick.”

Ray nodded. “Alright.” 

Caleb placed a hand on Luke and Reggie, who pulled Alex into the huddle and disappeared. Ray made a beckoning motion to the girls before bending down and lifting Nick bridal style into his arms. Julie raised somewhat amused eyebrows and stood shakily, going over to Flynn and helping her up. The trip to the car started and finished in the blink of an eye. Ray was silent for the drive, but he kept shooting concerned glances to the back seat, obviously wanting to talk about whatever was going on, but recognizing the need to wait. 

They were pulling into the driveway when Julie cleared her throat. “I should, uh, I should probably use Nick’s phone to ask his parents if he can stay over.”

“That might be best, _mija_ ,” Ray agreed, placing the car in park and turning it off. 

Julie pulled out Nick’s phone, mentally apologizing for invading his privacy and opening the message between him and his dad. 

_**Nick:** Can I spend the night at Julie’s with her and her band?_

__

**Dad #1:** did her dad give ok?

__

**Nick:** Yeah

__

**Dad #1:** Have him call me

__

_**Nick:** K _

“Nick’s dad said to call him,” Julie said, looking up from the screen to where Ray was pulling Nick out from the backseat. They quickly got to the studio, and Ray held up a hand before anyone could say anything, pulling out his phone and asking Julie for the number. 

“Hello? Mr. Danforth?” Ray asked. He waited. “Yes, Nick is here. He’s hanging out with the band right now. He and one of the boys wanted to work on something with the guitars…Yes, I’ll tell him. Alright, you have a good night as well.”

Julie waited with baited breath until Ray nodded and slipped the phone back in his pocket. “So,” he started. “Does someone want to fill me in on what exactly happened?”

Caleb looked up from where he had been looking Nick over and checking for any especially detrimental side effects from the possession. “There is a demon who craves the power your daughter and her bandmates possess. When getting to them by possessing me didn’t work, the demon decided to get to them by using a friend of theirs. I provided the band and your family with anti-possession charms, but not Julie’s young friend over here.” 

“Anti-possession charms?” Ray asked, crossing his arms skeptically. 

“Yeah, pieces of jewelry that are charmed to prevent possession. Yours is the bracelet I gave you and Carlos and Tía,” Julie said, shrugging sheepishly at Ray’s disbelieving gaze. 

Luke shivered, pulling his flannel closer around him as Alex let out a weak cough. Ray’s stare softened and he sighed. “Alright, why don’t you all get some rest and try to heal. Flynn, I’ll get you some ice and Motrin and a brace. Caleb, can you check the rest of them over?”

Caleb nodded. “Already did. There’s nothing that can really be done aside from wait and maybe call Julie’s tía in to see if she can help me with some spells.”

Ray nodded. “I’ll text her to come over tomorrow. For now I’m going to get the air mattress and blankets and pillows so you all can get some sleep.”

He walked out, and Julie watched him go before joining the boys on the couch. “How’s your wrist?” She asked Flynn, cocking her head in concern.

Flynn shrugged. “Not too bad. I’ve sprained it before.”

“Uh…Caleb?” Alex started, his voice shaking. Julie turned to him, worrying that something else had gone wrong. 

“Is everything okay Alex?” Caleb was still running a slightly glowing hand over Nick’s sleeping form, but he looked up with a furrowed brow.

“I…everything is blurry. I can’t really see.” Alex’s knuckles were white as he squeezed Luke’s thigh, looking around the studio in panic. 

Caleb stood up quickly and hurried over, moving his hand in front of Alex’s face. Alex’s eyes just barely tracked it, looking straight through the limb. Caleb held up two fingers. “How many fingers am I holding up?”

Alex shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know! Five? It’s just a shapeless blob with black spots.”

Caleb nodded, muttering something under his breath and waiting for three of his fingers to glow. “Alex, I’m going to put a couple of my fingers by your left eye, okay?” He waited for Alex to nod before placing two of his fingers on Alex’s face, one by the corner of his eye and one at the end of his eyebrow. 

Caleb closed his eyes and pursed his lips in focus, waiting a few seconds before blinking and removing his fingers. He put the back of his hand up to Alex’s forehead and felt it, then felt Reggie and Luke’s. “I think you’re all just sick,” he decided after a moment’s wait. Julie let out a breath she didn’t realize she had been holding and met Flynn’s concerned gaze.

“You think we’re dick? That’s not very nice.” Reggie glared at Caleb and crossed his arms tightly, his voice just a little too loud.

Caleb sighed and shook his head, picking up the notebook and pen that Julie always kept on the coffee table in the case of any errant ideas that she needed to remember. _I think you’re Sick_, Caleb wrote, underlining the word sick a few times. 

Reggie’s mouth formed a small ‘o’ of understanding and he nodded. “That makes more sense.”

Julie snatched the notebook and pen. _You can be a little quieter y’know_.

She had just presented what she had written when Alex cleared his throat. “He does know he’s being really loud, right?”

Luke laughed soundlessly as Julie facepalmed and glared at him through slitted fingers. His laugh broke out into a cough and he stopped, clutching his sternum and rubbing his throat with a wince. 

Caleb surveyed the scene with a critical eye, sighing and slightly sagging his shoulders. “I think I know what’s happening.”

“Well, share it with the class,” Flynn said dryly, crossing her arms and raising a demanding eyebrow.

“They were probably getting sick before this happened, but having a demon attempt to possess them made it worse.” 

“So—so they’ll be okay, right?” Julie asked hopefully, brightening. 

“I don’t know.” Caleb shrugged, but offered a consoling smile. “It should, though. I will still work with Victoria to make sure nothing else is wrong, but it may take a few days.”

”Wait, ghosts can get sick?” Reggie asked, his head cocked.

“Not typically, no, but you three have never really been ‘typical’ ghosts, so it doesn’t seem too far out of the ordinary.” Caleb placed a hand on Reggie’s shoulder for a second as reassurance.

Julie’s shoulders rolled in a bit, but tried to stay hopeful. The doors creaked open and she cast a wary look at it, smiling when she saw her dad carrying the bag with the air mattress. 

“I figured you could all have a sleepover.” He turned to Caleb and pulled out the air mattress. “Are there…wards—or something? That you could put up? I don’t really know how this whole magic thing works aside from knowing it exists.”

Caleb considered it and nodded. “Yes, there are a few things I could do. I could also stay in the loft if that would make you feel more comfortable?”

Ray opened his mouth to say no but reconsidered. He met eyes with Julie, asking if she trusted Caleb or not. Julie blinked, barely nodding, but it was enough for Ray. He nodded at Caleb. “If it is not too much to ask. I will stay outside with everyone as well.”

Caleb shook his head. “Not too much at all.”

The air mattress was set up within a five minutes, and Julie put the bedding on it while her father took care of Flynn’s wrist. Caleb held onto Nick while Ray set up the pullout couch, and then set about putting up the wards. Julie helped the boys and Flynn crawl onto the air mattress and arrange themselves comfortably, one arm draped over Luke and Reggie and the other wrapped around Flynn. Julie’s arm was squished by Alex, who was laying on top of the boys, but she didn’t feel like moving it. 

Julie woke up a few times during the night, her chest heaving and heart pounding, one of the boys twitching next to her. She tightened her hold on them and they settled with a sigh as she shifted a bit and fell back asleep. 

They would probably have to deal with a lot tomorrow, not the least of which was telling Nick at least a little bit, but for now Julie could let her arm fall asleep while cuddling with her boys. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Muahahahahaha don’t hurt me  
> I would apologize but writing this was a lot of fun. I figured that we could have a nice chapter ending instead of the oof one that we had last chapter, you’re welcome! Anyway, stay tuned for next week’s installment, I hope y’all stay happy, healthy, and safe ‘til then, ily all.


	9. Getting Possessed is Not Recommended for a Healthy Mind and Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick slowly stood up from the couch, rolling his shoulders and grimacing at the pain in his head as he wobbled around the coffee table to try and escape. He would go home, and when he saw Julie at school he would ask her what had happened. Hopefully he wouldn’t sound like a crazy person, but he was kinda freaking out here so he felt he had a reason to sound a bit crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everybody! Hope you enjoy this chapter, I love you all and hope you’re doing well. 
> 
> Sorry about the fake update a few minutes ago, I had to get rid of a draft I forgot I had. Also, I went in and added a line to chapter 4 so things would be a bit more consistent.

The sound of rain colliding with the windows of whatever room he was in roused Nick from a sleep he couldn’t remember. His head was pounding in tandem with his heartbeat and he felt a little hot. His hands reached up to rub his eyes of the remains of sleep as he looked around the room, his heart picking up when he realized where he was.

Flynn, Julie, and her band were piled on top of each other and the air mattress, all of their faces relaxed in sleep. Nick pulled out his phone and checked the time, trying to figure out what had happened. The last thing he remembered was…was a strange man and a stream of smoke coming toward him, as if it had a mind of its own.

Nick slowly stood up from the couch, rolling his shoulders and grimacing at the pain in his head as he wobbled around the coffee table to try and escape. He would go home, and when he saw Julie at school he would ask her what had happened. Hopefully he wouldn’t sound like a crazy person, but he was kinda freaking out here so he felt he had a reason to sound a bit crazy.

His plans of escape were thwarted, though, when he grew lightheaded and tripped over the air mattress as a result. Despite the room going in somersaults around him, he managed to catch himself before falling, but the air mattress already jiggled from the disturbance.

Nick winced when one of the boys, the one in pink, groaned and rolled over, sitting up and staring at him blearily. His groan caused Julie to yawn, stretching like a cat and craning her head to see what was happening. Within the next few moments, Flynn and the other boy—the one that was really good on the guitar—had woken up and were nudging the other one awake.

Luke nudged Reggie, rasping out a short, “Reg—” before his voice cracked and gave out. He sighed in frustration, nudging Reggie more insistently. Flynn eyed him in concern before continuing to poke Reggie.

Julie took a second to come to awareness, smiling tiredly at Nick before her eyes widened and her mouth formed an ‘o’. “Nick! You’re awake!”

Nick nodded. “Uh-huh. And I’m—uh—I’m really confused? What happened?”

Nick may be a little oblivious sometimes, but even he could recognize the ‘oh shit’ look on Flynn’s face as she glanced at Julie in a panic. Julie nodded.

“Uh-huh. Okay so here’s the thing—and you’re going to think I’m crazy but you really just need to hear me out, and please don’t run away or anything—oh my god okay how do I say this—”

“Julie,” Nick interrupted, holding up a hand. “Please. Just tell me what’s going on. How did I get here? How did your band get here?”

Julie nodded sheepishly, took a second, and blurted out, “You were possessed!” She clapped her hands over her mouth, obviously not meaning to say it quite like that, but sighed and sagged a bit in resignation.

“I was—wait what?”

Nick jumped when a voice from the loft called down, “What’s going on? Julie? Is everything alright?”

“Yeah dad,” Julie assured. “Nick just woke up.”

They could all hear fumbling echo from the loft for a few seconds before a solid _thump_ everyone but Reggie winced at. Ray climbed down the ladder a moment later, a nonchalant look on his face as Caleb _poof_ ed away too. Nick jumped, his mouth dropping open.

“Wha—why? What happened?” He muttered to himself, looking at his hands before looking back up to stare wide-eyed at Caleb.

Julie let out an awkward chuckle. “Well, y’see…Flynn?”

Flynn sighed and rolled her eyes fondly. “Do you believe in ghosts, sunshine boy?”

Nick cocked his head at the nickname before considering the question. After a second he shrugged. “I guess I don’t…not believe in them, I guess?”

Flynn nodded. “Cool. ‘Cause they’re real. Ta da. Ghost boys!” She made jazz hands in the direction of the three boys and then spread the motion to include Caleb.

“Flynn,” Julie breathed quietly, shaking her head and putting it in her hands. “Why?”

“It’s morning and I am not a morning person. Unless I’ve had soda. You know this, Julie,” Flynn deadpanned.

“You’re not a muffin person?” Reggie asked softly. He clearly didn’t know his volume, but it was better than the night before when he had been shouting.

Julie sighed again and shot Nick an apologetic look, scribbling on the notepad. ‘ _Flynn’s not a morning person._’

Reggie nodded in understanding. “Oh.”

“ _Anyway_ ,” Julie redirected. “Flynn is right, and the boys are ghosts. So is Caleb over there. He—”

Nick nodded. “I’ve seen Caleb before. Right before I don’t remember anything else.”

Caleb coughed awkwardly as he walked over. “Yes, well, I’m afraid you were possessed. We’re going to be getting you an anti-possession charm before the end of today so it doesn’t happen again.”

Nick sat there for a few seconds, his eyes making their best attempt at bulging from his face.

“Nick?” Julie ventured.

Nick gulped, shaking his head. “Sorry—I just—sorry. Taking it in, I guess,” he chuckled humorlessly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yeah. You were possessed by a demon called Billy. We…don’t really know what he’s after yet, aside from whatever power me and the boys have. He came to us after our show last night and tried to possess one of the boys. When it didn’t work he—uh—he went back to you and—well. He left a few moments later.”

“We don’t know where he is now,” Flynn confirmed.

“How…how long was I possessed?” Nick asked haltingly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Julie cast her eyes to the ceiling, her mouth dropping open after a second. “It’s only been a week. Since everything started.”

Alex grimaced. “Feels like weeks.”

Luke nodded. His head was still spinning, his throat felt like he had swallowed glass. Outside was darkened by clouds and rain, and it was not helping the somber mood of the entire conversation. His limbs felt like jelly even though he tried to move as little as possible. If this was what Caleb felt after being possessed…no wonder he had seemed so weak.

“Wait…what did I do?” Nick asked. His eyebrows were furrowed in thought as he tried to remember actions that weren’t his.

Caleb shook his head, walking over and sitting across from Nick. “None of the things the demon did are your fault. You were a victim, you didn’t know what was happening, and you were not in control. Anything the demon did while he had control was his fault and _only_ his. Understand?”

Nick nodded soundlessly. He cleared his throat and nodded again, managing to eke out, “Yeah.”

Caleb smiled softly, sympathetically.

Julie continued quietly after waiting a few moments. “We don’t really know what you did for the majority of the time. You only approached us twice, once at school a few days ago and then again after the performance last night. Other than that—”

“We have no clue what you were doing, sorry.” Flynn shrugged slightly, quirking her lips into a grimace.

Nick nodded to himself. “Yeah. Okay. Cool.”

“Alright,” Ray interrupted, walking over and gently resting a hand on Nick’s shoulder. “Let’s go get some breakfast. You can help if you would like to, Nick, or you can just watch. I told your parents that you were spending the night, so you have some time. And Carlos should still be asleep.”

“Yeah, thanks Mr. Molina.” Nick got up and followed Ray to the doors of the studio. They both cracked it open and hesitated briefly before rushing out into and through the downpour. 

“If that’s all, I should probably go back to the club, make sure things are running smoothly. I’ll return momentarily to give Nick his anti-possession charm and check up on the boys again.” Caleb stood up, running his hands down the thighs of his pant legs to brush off nonexistent hairs or dust.

“Wait,” Julie said, taking a step forward. “There’s something I wanted to talk to you about first.”

Caleb cocked his head, making a ‘go on’ motion with his hand.

“Flynn found a notebook in your library. She and my tía agree that what it talks about sounds like a ritual to…to bring ghosts back to life.” Julie’s eyes were imploring, the boys and Flynn listening with rapt expressions on their faces.

Caleb took a second to think about it before nodding. “Yes, I believe I know which notebook you’re speaking about. It’s been done only a few times before. I should have more sources about it in my library.”

Julie’s eyes brightened and she perked up. “Really? It can be done?”

Caleb nodded hesitantly. “Yes, but I believe there are certain circumstances that need to be factored in. It’s why not many ghosts are able to achieve it.”

“What kind of circumstances?” Flynn asked, propping her chin up with a hand.

“You have to know and complete your unfinished business.”

Alex sighed. “We’ll never be able to do it then.”

“What about ritual business? Are you guys talking about going to the bathroom or is it a magic thing?” Reggie murmured. In trying not to be too loud he was barely auditory.

Luke nudged him, picking up the notepad and writing, ‘ _Magic thing_ ’.

“Magic bling? Like anti-possession charms? I read about charms with other purposes too. They sounded really cool.”

Luke sighed, shaking his head. “ _Thing_ ,” he insisted, breaking out into painful, rasping coughs.

Julie, distracted from whatever she had been talking to Caleb about, rushed over to Luke and rubbed his back as he was bent over. Alex moved a few feet, his arm floundering in the air before finding Luke’s shoulder.

“What happened?”

“I’m confused about what you guys are talking about,” Reggie said apologetically, guilt wracking his frame.

“Not your fault,” Alex said quietly, writing it out and hoping his writing wasn’t too horrible since he couldn’t see. Luke looked up, his eyes watery, and nodded insistently.

Luke let out one last hacking cough, his entire torso lurching forward with the impact. Julie reluctantly pulled her hand from his back, picking up the notebook to explain the discussion to Reggie.

‘ _Told Caleb about the ritual. He says it needs “certain circumstances”. One is completing your unfinished business.’_

Reggie sighed, flopping backward. “We’re never gonna do it then.”

Alex smirked humorlessly at the unknowing echo of his words.

‘ _Yes we will_’ Julie wrote furiously, speaking the words aloud for Alex’s benefit. She looked up at Caleb. “Is there any way to figure out what their unfinished business is?”

Caleb shrugged apologetically. “Not that I know of. I can ask around, though. But really you just have to think about what you wanted most in life. It doesn’t have to be something you acknowledged you wanted, just something you always wished you would be able to do.”

“But they already tried playing the Orpheum,” Julie said hopelessly. “How do we know that’s not it? I thought completing your unfinished business meant you crossed over. They haven’t done that.”

“Not necessarily.” Caleb shook his head. “The theory is that the only time completing your unfinished business forces you to cross over is when you were a horrible person not only in life, but in death as well. The people destined for hell or for becoming demons. Otherwise, a sign will typically appear. There are common ones, but it can be different for everyone.”

Julie’s shoulders let go of the tension they had been holding at the thought of the boys being ripped from her.

“Besides,” Caleb added, “Maybe the Orpheum wasn’t their unfinished business. It doesn’t have to be something you all wanted to achieve together, though that doesn’t mean you all have completely different unfinished business.”

Flynn groaned. “Great. That’s helpful.”

Julie sighed in agreement. She wrote out a quick summary of what Caleb had said for Reggie. He read it slowly, his eyebrows furrowing as he considered it.

“You guys can take some time to consider it and let me know if you figure it out,” Caleb assured. “I’ve got to go check on the club now, though, and get that charm for Nick. I’ll speak with you all later.”

Luke gave a short wave as the others echoed their own farewells. Reggie had made out enough of what Caleb had said to know what he meant.

Caleb responded with a wave of his own before vanishing. Julie’s phone buzzed with a text from her dad informing her that breakfast was ready. She let Flynn and the boys know. “Do you guys want to stay here or try and make the trip to the house?” As she said this she typed it out, flipping her phone around to show Reggie.

“I don’t think trying to make the trip is the best idea. I’m…still a bit unsteady.” Alex looked down when he said it, his shoulders beginning to curl in until Luke put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Reggie shook his head. “I don’t think I have the best balance right now. Walking won’t be a great idea.”

Julie shrugged. “Alright, don’t worry about it. I’ll be back in a bit. Nick might join us.”

Flynn grimaced, looking at a message on her own phone. “I can stay for breakfast, Jules, but my dad wants me to come help him and my mom with a few things.”

Julie nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

Caleb stopped by during breakfast to give Nick the anti-possession charm that had been promised, and though Nick eyed it with disbelief he kept one hand wrapped around it after placing it around his neck. It was a simple necklace, made of a thick cord with an odd-shaped metal charm that heated up from its contact with his skin, but the weight was comforting. Flynn left soon after making sure Julie would text her immediately if something happened.

The rain had slowed to a steady drizzle, the sparse sounds of thunder disappearing. Nick texted his dads to let them know that he would be back by the end of the day, but that he would be watching movies with Julie and the band. They both made him FaceTime them to show them he was alright before letting him go with the promise he be back by six.

Ray stopped in to check on them (they were all in various stages of unconsciousness, but slouched in a giant pile like the night prior) before returning to the house where he, Caleb, and Tía were discussing the ritual and what to do about the demon. Caleb briefly disappeared to his club to grab a few books he knew would be useful, returning with four thick tomes all held in his arms.

Ray usually wasn’t a fan of the rain, but he appreciated it then because, however small a deterrent it may have been, it still meant it was less likely the demon would try anything else. Now if only they could bless the clouds so the rainwater was considered holy. That was possible, right?

Tía took a momentary break from going through her Grimoire to make sandwiches and bring them out to the kids for when they woke up again. By late evening the three adults all agreed to stop with the research, and Caleb whipped up dinner for them and Carlos from the ingredients he could find in the kitchen. He kept his head bowed respectively during the pre-meal prayer before digging in.

“I’m going back to the club for tonight,” he said after they had all cleaned their plates of the food. “There are a few things I need to take care of.”

Ray nodded, wiping the corner of his mouth with his napkin before setting it back on the table. “Of course. You must be a busy man, Mr. Covington.”

“Caleb, please.” Caleb met Ray’s eyes with a teasing smile. “That, among other things. Maybe I’ll show you sometime.”

“I think I would enjoy that.”

Carlos met Victoria’ eyes from across the table, miming a barf and grinning when she nudged him under the table with a scolding look (she failed to hide her amusement from him, though).

Caleb left after helping them clean and do dishes, and Victoria left soon after. Ray went out to the studio to collect Nick so he could drive him home, and before Nick got out of the car he made sure the boy had his number in case he ever needed to talk.

Julie and the boys were still in the studio when he got back to the house, and he nudged them up. “Come on, kids. Julie, you need to sleep in a real bed. The boys can use our guest bedroom. It’s there for a reason, you know.”

Julie groaned, but ultimately listened, dragging herself and the boys up with lead limbs and sloughing their ways into the house and up the stairs.

——

Julie really hated leaving the boys, but citing “recovering from demon attack” as a reason for absence wouldn’t fly with the school board. Her dad hated to let her out on her own, what with the demon out and about in an unknown vessel, but he also realized that putting her schooling on hold might not be the best idea in the long run.

So, here she was, yawning an average of two times every one and a half minutes, her eyes constantly falling to half mast before she shook herself awake, repeating the cycle. Flynn had a meeting with a teacher and so had reluctantly been forced to leave her on her own.

Julie blamed her mental exhaustion for not seeing Carrie until the girl closed her locker. She jumped at the hand that had appeared from nowhere, turning around and chuckling nervously when she saw Carrie standing there with one hand against the locker and the other on her hip. 

“What’s wrong?” If Julie hadn’t been friends with Carrie for years before they had split up, she may have thought Carrie was being callous or condescending. But no, Julie could hear the concern in the subtext Carrie had never been the best at making into actual text.

Julie shrugged, covering her mouth when another yawn clawed its way out. “Nothing, I’m fine.”

Carrie raked her eyes up and down Julie before pinning her with a skeptical gaze. “Uh-huh. Sure. And Nick? I texted his parents to ask where he was and they said he was at your house. He’s been giving me the cold shoulder for a week. What’s going on with you and your little….group?”

Julie’s expression was the epitome of ‘deer in headlights’. “I—uh,” she stuttered, searching for any explanation that didn’t include ghosts. Fortunately, even though her luck hadn’t been particularly great the past week or so, the bell decided to take pity on her, choosing that moment to ring loudly and signal the fast-approaching beginning of class. Julie sighed in relief, looking up and rushing out, “I’ve gotta get to class byeseeyou!”

She didn’t look back to see what Carrie’s reaction was, instead tucking her head down and rushing to the next class of the day. Julie went through the motions, submitting the work that was due and pretending to pay attention to the teacher. Her second to last class, the teacher called on her to stay behind.

“Ms. Molina. I noticed you seemed distracted today. Is there anything you’d like to talk about?” Ms. Simmons cocked her head slightly as she looked up at Julie expectantly.

Julie shook her head, rocking back and then forward on her heels. “No, Ms. Simmons. I’m fine.”

Ms. Simmons’ face softened as she nodded. “Okay, but if you need anything—”

Julie smiled slightly, only a brief quirk of her lips, but it was there. “I’m fine,” she insisted.

“Okay. If you’re sure, you can go to your next class.” Ms. Simmons sat back in her chair, watching as her next group of students streamed into the classroom.

Julie nodded.

The next class passed as though every second were an hour, and the teacher’s voice sounded like the one on Charlie Brown. Which was a shame, because usually Julie liked Kip. Flynn texted saying she would meet Julie outside. So, for the meantime, Julie put her headphones in and started her playlist, losing herself in the rhythm of the music and trying not to think about anything.

A few students waved in acknowledgement, but ultimately left her alone. Julie frowned, taking her phone out to check why the song was fritzing in and out, and shrieked when a clammy hand covered her mouth and an arm wrapped around her abdomen, pulling her behind the steps and out of sight.

She clamped her teeth down hard on the hand, ripping herself out of their grasp and turning around. Julie froze when the man’s eyes flashed crimson red.

“Hello, Julie,” he sneered.

Julie took a half step back, her expression hardening in repulsed anger.

“How are your boys doing?” Billy asked, a mock look of innocent curiosity on his face.

“How do you think?” Julie snapped.

“I think they’re probably enjoying the little gifts I left.”

Julie’s eyes widened. “What did you do.”

Billy shrugged. “Oh, nothing much. I just left them a little…bug. It will destroy them if they don’t get the antidote.”

Julie could feel the beating of her heart throughout her entire body as her fingers trembled at her sides. “And the antidote is?” She choked out through gritted teeth.

“I’ll only tell you if you and the boys agree to give me your power. I’ll give you a few days to think about it.” Billy winked and the body he was in collapsed to the ground like a bag of sand. Julie yelped and jumped back, looking at the malicious smoke in the air. The cloud snapped and crackled, folding in on itself and disappearing in the wink of an eye.

Julie gulped, stepping back and flinching when her music started again.

“Julie!” Flynn’s voice called.

Julie turned around, her palms sweating and the pulse of her heart in her feet.

Flynn came to a stop, taking in Julie’s expression and the body behind her. “Oh my gosh are you okay? Who is that?”

Julie looked behind herself at the unconscious man and then back at Flynn. She shook her head. “No. It’s—that was Billy.”

Flynn’s eyes widened. “Oh. Are you okay?”

Julie nodded. “Yeah. I—I think I am.”

“What did he want?” Flynn pulled Julie into a firm hug, the wrist brace pressing against her back.

“He—” Julie’s eyes watered as she forced herself to speak around the lump in her throat. “He said that he made the boys sick. When he tried to possess them. He said they’d be _destroyed_ if we didn’t—if we didn’t give him our power.”

Flynn released her from the hug, her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “How are you supposed to do that?”

“I don’t know.” Julie shrugged hopelessly.

“Are you going to tell the boys?” Flynn asked softly.

Julie stopped to think about it. She should tell the boys. She _should_. But…what if that only made them panic? Or made it worse? She couldn’t lose them. Not now. “I don’t know.”

Flynn sighed. “Well you have to, don’t you? It’s not right to keep something like this from them. And besides, it’s not only your power Billy would be taking. It’s theirs, too. They deserve to have a say in it and you know that.”

Julie nodded. “I know, I know. But I can’t—I can’t lose them. I thought I would before and I can’t handle that again.”

“How long did Billy give you?” Flynn asked, her eyes softened in understanding.

“He said he’d give me a day.”

“Come on, we can ask your dad about it,” Flynn urged, wrapping an arm around Julie’s shoulder and tugging her into walking.

Julie nodded. “Yeah.”

“And you know we have to tell the boys, right? It’s their choice whether or not to give up their power.”

Julie sighed, a rock settling in her gut. “Yeah, Flynn, I know. You’ve told me already.”

Flynn held her hands up in surrender and they both picked up the pace, trying to get back to Julie’s quickly so they could ask her dad for advice. They were going to need it, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol. Sorry....but not sorry. It had to happen dudes. Also, not me lowkey starting the Rayleb ship that I’ve also got going on the ask blogs. No regrets because they’re wonderful. Anyway, check out previous chapter end notes to get the names of my blogs, where I would love it if you came and engaged me in any kind of conversation. I’m a lonely soul. 
> 
> Comments, kudos, etc. are always appreciated! If you’re a new reader, don’t forget to check out my previous JatP fanfics, and remember that drabble/one-shot requests are still open on my tumblrs!


	10. Pretty Pink Loop with a Warpath on Top

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie sighed, pocketing her phone again and letting Flynn know that Nick was on his way with Carrie in tow. Flynn’s following freakout was expected, but no less shrill. Julie winced. “Tone it down. Nick tried to stop her but apparently she’s on a warpath.”
> 
> “When isn’t she,” Flynn muttered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don’t judge me on the chapter title. Coming up with funny ones is hard and I am allowed to have off days. Also I’m distracted because I’m currently watching She-Ra lol. It really said lgbtq+ rights didn’t it. I love it. 
> 
> Anyway, sorry this is so late! I kinda started on it late, whoops. I hope you all enjoy this chapter! There were a few moments that were a lot of fun to write (namely the text convo lol)

The boys had tried to hang out like they usually did, but had swiftly given up when they realized how time consuming it was to convey a simple sentence. Luke had given up with a flop, falling onto the air mattress Ray had left out and feeling it dip slightly into the floor.

Reggie had _poof_ ed into the house and…borrowed…Carlos’ switch, putting Smash Bros Ultimate on and setting to work teaching Luke how to play (Alex had tried, at first, but after walking off the edge repeatedly had decided to leave it to people that could actually, y’know, see). Reggie occasionally would hit the jump button when he didn’t mean to, or would pass through the controller completely after losing control of his tangibility.

Luke wasn’t much better off, actually. The controller slipped through his hands several times and they shook even when he had hold of it. Alex laid himself across the two boys’ legs, providing them with a grounding pressure.

Luke groaned when Reggie’s Zero Suit Samus nailed Link with a roundhouse kick right as he dropped his controller again. He didn’t have time to pick it back up before the whoosh of a ghost appearing echoed through the air. Luke flinched, aborting his movement for the controller and twisting around frantically. Alex had tensed in his lap, trying to look around Reggie to see who was there.

Willie stood there, his eyebrows furrowed in concern as he looked at the boys and took a step forward. Luke relaxed, ignoring Reggie who whispered to Alex, “It’s just Willie,” a little too loud to be a normal whisper.

Willie’s eyes narrowed briefly in confusion as he finished walking over to them carefully. “Caleb said something had happened,” he started, anxiously fiddling his fingers. “I came to make sure you guys were okay.”

Luke smiled at him in appreciation, shrugging.

Alex sighed, sitting up slightly and looking in Willie’s general direction. He could make out a vague blur shape. “We’re not great but not horrible.”

Willie peered at him, seeming to pick up on how Alex’s eyes failed to completely focus on him and how Reggie hadn’t really added to the conversation. “Can…can you see me?” He asked tentatively.

“Nope! Kinda!” Alex’s voice was an octave too high and slightly hysterical, but other than that he showed no reaction.

“Alex is blind,” Reggie added helpfully. “Oh and I’m deaf.”

Willie nodded, not knowing how to react. “That’s…not great. Wow. What about Luke?”

“He lost his voice.”

Luke pouted but shrugged, his right eye twitching minutely.

“I—What happened?” Willie asked, sitting down on the coffee table next to the air mattress.

“The demon. He appeared in the back room after our show last night. Tried to possess all of us and left behind some…side effects I guess.” Alex shrugged, but his voice was shaking as Luke pulled him against his chest in a fierce hug. Willie put a hand on Alex’s thigh and rubbed his thumb back and forth in an effort to comfort.

“Yeah and the demon un-possessed Nick and now he can see us!” Reggie said, leaning down to pick up the controller Luke had dropped and handing it to him.

Willie raised an eyebrow, looking at Alex even though he probably couldn’t see it.

“Yeah we don’t know who the demon is possessing now. It could literally be anyone and we wouldn’t know. Which is honestly great, I mean—”

“Hot dog, chill.” Willie squeezed Alex’s thigh reassuringly, looking him in the eyes understandingly. “It’ll be okay.”

Luke nodded, squeezing his hug tighter before letting Alex go.

Reggie pulled another controller out of nowhere. “C’mon, you can play smash bros with Luke and me.”

Luke grinned at Willie mischievously. Willie grinned back and joined them on the air mattress, which was sagging to the ground from the boys’ combined weight. Soon enough, they lost themselves in the game. Willie and Reggie kept up a casual ramble of conversation and descriptions of the game to keep Alex occupied (“Samus goes for the dive and dives straight off the stage! Guess you need to adjust your aim Reginald” (Reggie of course didn’t respond because often he didn’t even realize anything had been said, leaving Alex and Luke to laugh)).

Alex let himself relax to the sound of the boys and the video game, and the three boys playing exchanged triumphant looks without him noticing.

The door creaked open slowly, and before the boys could do much, Ray announced the fact that he was entering. He came in, looking around the studio before focusing on the sight of the dipped air mattress. The boys weren’t strong enough to become visible yet, but he could still tell they were there. It was in the little hints.

“I hope you boys are settling in well. I’m just on a quick break and figured I’d come check on you. I also came to let you know that I have put some of my contacts on searching for the vessel the demon is in right now, and it should only be a matter of time.” Ray looked through the boys before clearing his throat and looking around the studio awkwardly, clearing his throat and then leaving swiftly.

Luke’s forehead crinkled, mouthing to himself, ‘ _Contacts?_ ’ in confusion. What kind of contacts would Ray have?

None of the others seemed to have caught it, so Luke shrugged and returned to playing the game. He would catch his lucky break soon, he knew it.

——

The sound of keys on a keyboard clacking spread through the otherwise silent room. Ray occasionally took a break from typing to drag the mouse and click on things to further edit the picture. He scowled when the slam of the door and subsequent thundering footsteps caused his hand to jump and mess up. He pressed the undo button before turning to face Flynn and Julie, who were standing in the doorway panting.

Upon seeing the somewhat panicked haze in Julie’s eyes, Ray’s lips pursed in concern. “ _Qué pasa, mija_?”

Julie leaned against the doorway, propping herself up with an arm and stopping to regain her breath for a minute. “I—the demon came to school today.”

Ray stood up sharply, the chair scooting back behind him as his expression grew stormy. “It _what_. Are you okay?” He rushed forward worriedly, his hands ghosting over her to check for any injuries.

Julie pushed his hands away gently, looking him in the eyes and nodding. Ray’s heart was still pounding, but he nodded back at her and let her speak. “He was outside at the end of the day. He…” Her voice choked but she continued on. “He said that the boys were sick. He said that without an antidote they’d be _destroyed_.”

Ray’s eyes widened in shock and he looked out to the studio where the boys had been playing a game earlier. They were dead. He didn’t realize it was possible for them to get…irreparably dead. They were just kids, they shouldn’t have to go through this.

Julie’s breathing sped up slightly as she spiraled. “And I don’t know if I should tell them or not and Billy said that he would give me the antidote if I gave him my power but he also wants the guys’ power and so I guess obviously I’d have to tell them but I just don’t know what to do!”

Ray put his hands on her shoulders, taking an exaggerated breath. “Calm, _mija_. It will be okay.”

“You don’t know that!” She cried, surging forward and wrapping her arms around him in a desperate hug.

Ray looked at Flynn, whose face was crumpled in empathy and whose eyes were glittering with moisture. He looked back down at Julie and squeezed her tightly in comfort, leading her over to the couch to sit down. She held onto him a few moments longer and then let go reluctantly, sniffling and wiping her nose.

Ray sighed. “You are right, I don’t. But I do know that your mother was one of the most powerful women I have met, and I am sure she passed that power on to you. You and your band will get through this, and if you do not…well. I am here for you, but I am sure it will not come to that.”

Julie sniffled wetly, and Flynn pulled her in for a brief side hug. Julie snatched a tissue from the box to blow her nose.

Ray thought hard about what he could do. It couldn’t be possible to destroy ghosts…could it? But maybe Julie knew better than he did. She had known the boys longer than he had, after all. “I can consult with Caleb and your tía, to see if it’s possible to make them sick like that.”

Julie looked at him hopefully, but the look collapsed as she realized something. “But he can! He almost did it before!”

Ray’s eyes widened. “Okay, but I can still ask them if they can make the antidote themselves. Does that sound okay?”

Julie paused, her eyes still wet and her nose runny, and nodded hesitantly. “I guess,” she said softly.

“Good. In the meantime, I am taking you and Carlos out of school for the rest of the week. I am not comfortable with the idea that the demon could get to you at school or on your way home.”

Julie opened her mouth to protest, but seemed to think better of it when she saw the look in her dad’s eyes. She nodded. “Yeah, okay.”

“I would ask the same of you, Flynn, but I do not see your parents being as behind the idea as I am,” Ray said sadly.

Flynn shrugged. “He shouldn’t go after me anyway. Besides, I can always ask Caleb to provide me with a little…ghostly transport.” She held up a hand and wiggled her fingers, waving her eyebrows excitedly.

Julie laughed. “Yeah, that would work.”

Ray smiled softly at them both. “Okay, it’s settled then. Julie, Flynn, the boys are in the studio playing video games, but you both know the rules. Homework first.”

Flynn nodded, pulling Julie to her feet impatiently. “Got it, Ray!”

Ray looked back at his computer, internally crafting the email he would send to Julie’s school in explanation for her upcoming absence and cringing. He hated emails.

Julie trailed behind Flynn, pausing to pull her phone out of her pocket when it buzzed.

 **Nick:** _Carrie’s on a warpath and we’re coming over_

 **Julie:** _wait what n o_

 **Nick:** _u know how she is i cant stop it_

 **Julie:** _oh my god why_

 **Nick:** _she rly wants answers_

_5 mins @ the most_

**Julie:** _fine, thanks for the heads up ig_

 **Nick:** 👍🏻

Julie sighed, pocketing her phone again and letting Flynn know that Nick was on his way with Carrie in tow. Flynn’s following freakout was expected, but no less shrill. Julie winced. “Tone it down. Nick tried to stop her but apparently she’s on a warpath.”

“When isn’t she,” Flynn muttered.

Julie’s lips quirked up slightly before she turned her attention to the doors to the studio, pushing them open. She sent a quick text to Nick, telling him that they would be in the studio, and pocketed her phone upon receiving an affirmative response.

The boys turned their attention onto her, pausing the game, and Julie waved to Willie. “Willie’s here too,” she muttered to Flynn, who nodded in thanks for the information.

“I should actually be getting back to help Caleb. The club still needs more attention than normal, since Billy was such a horrible boss. Although our finances have never been better,” Willie added as an afterthought, shaking his head and chuckling bitterly. “See you guys!”

They all gave various farewells before Willie _poof_ ed out. The boys looked at her.

“Hey Julie!” Reggie waved happily.

Julie smiled back, giving a short little wave. “So….Nick’s on his way. With Carrie. She wants answers.”

“Carrie’s coming here?” Alex asked, trying to stifle his excitement.

Julie laughed, nodding. “Yeah, Alex, she’s coming.”

The sound of pounding feet outside and Carrie ranting alerted them all to her arrival. Luke sickly wrote down an explanation of what was happening for Reggie, who was fortunately one of the few that could read his writing.

The doors to the studio swung open wildly, causing everybody to jump as Carrie strode in with Nick on her heels, shrugging apologetically. Carrie’s hip was cocked as she pinned her gaze on Julie. “I want answers, Julie. What happened to Nick? He won’t tell me! And he’s suddenly forgotten giving me the cold shoulder for a week? Everything seems to center around _you_. Your band,—who are _not_ holograms, by the way, I’ve seen the flashlight you use to convince people otherwise—Nick.”

“We don’t owe you an explanation,” Flynn snapped, crossing her arms.

Carrie’s expression hardened. “No. You _didn’t_ owe me an explanation. Not when it was just Julie and her band. But then you brought _Nick_ into it. _Now_ it’s my business, and you’d better tell me what the hell is going on!”

Julie shot a quelling look to Flynn, turning back to Carrie. The boys were watching and waiting behind her. “You’re right, and I’ll tell you, but you probably won’t believe me.”

Carrie raised a single expectant eyebrow in response, sitting down on one of the trunks beside her.

“The boys are ghosts. I’m the only one that can see them, usually, but when we all play _everyone_ is able to see them. They were all in a band in the 90s before they….before they died, in 1995.” Julie gulped a breath, waiting warily for the response.

Carrie snorted. “C’mon, Julie. I knew you were a bad liar, but this is something else entirely. What’s the actual truth?”

Nick cleared his throat. “That is. I can see them too.”

Julie cocked her head in confusion. Her face lit up a moment later with understanding and she nodded.

Carrie shook her head. “No! Ghosts aren’t _real_. I know my dad may believe in them but they don’t exist!”

Julie motioned to the boys to appear, but her face fell when they shook their heads. They were still barely strong enough to be tangible. Appearing to lifers wasn’t going to happen quite yet.

“Julie please!” Carrie finally broke. “I need to know what’s going on. Nick, you’re concerning me and it seems like Julie’s the only one with _answers_ nowadays!”

Luke sighed, looking around and picking up a pen before chucking it at her. Carrie dodged the pen with a yelp, looking around wildly. Luke picked up something else, waving it around in the air and setting it down when Carrie noticed it, her eyes widening comically.

“That—there’s—” She took a breath, composing herself. “Are the ghosts here?” Carrie finally asked.

Julie and Nick both nodded. “Been here the whole time,” Julie said.

Carrie gulped, looking at the air mattress and then back at Julie. Her eyebrows furrowed in thought and she turned to Nick. “You made it seem like you haven’t always been able to see them. That there was some kind of event,” Carrie hedged slowly. “…What happened this week?”

Nick flushed, looking down and clenching his fists. “I—uh—I was possessed? By a demon?”

Carrie’s face was dumbfounded. She looked to Julie, who nodded sadly in confirmation. “You—”

Nick nodded, shrugging and avoiding her gaze.

Carrie was up and across the room with Nick in a strong hug in the blink of an eye. She squeezed him to her tightly before looking back up at Julie, fire steeling her eyes. “You’re keeping me in the loop from now on. We’re going to kick this demon’s ass.”

Julie’s jaw dropped, and she looked at Flynn and the boys with no clue what to say. “Uhhh….I don’t. Um.”

Carrie crossed her arms and cocked her hip expectantly. “I’m not giving you a choice here, you know. You’re keeping me in the loop.”

Julie gaped, opening her mouth to say something before thinking better of it. Her eyebrows furrowed and she looked back up. “You…” She seemed to struggle with how to phrase what she wanted to say, but ultimately decided to go with the blunt option. “You don’t have any special abilities. I—I don’t see how you can help.”

Carrie raised an eyebrow, a small dent appearing in her forehead. “Neither does Flynn, but you’re still involving _her_.” She paused for a second before smirking. “Besides. I have money.”

Reggie chuckled. Julie sighed and shook her head, but her amusement was betrayed by her twitching lips. “Fine,” she said. “It’s not like I can convince you otherwise, anyway.”

Carrie grinned smugly. Nick laughed and shook his head.

——

Ray sighed, flipping through another book page, this one in Spanish. He looked up to where Caleb was floating a few yards up in front of a bookshelf. “I thought you had a magic index thing that brought books down for you. Why float up there?” He called up.

Caleb looked down, a smile on his face. “I’m looking for a specific title, and my index system isn’t quite as specific as I need it.”

Ray nodded, looking back down at the page. Several minutes passed before he glanced up at Tía, who was ensconced in reading through another book. “Victoria?”

She looked up. “ _¿Sí?_ ”

“Julie needs to be trained, yes?”

Victoria nodded. “ _Sí_ , she does. From what I understand, she would also benefit from learning from Mr. Covington.”

“I would certainly be willing to help,” Caleb assured, floating down with a large book in hand. “This has some information on how bringing people back to life can go wrong and how to prevent it.”

Victoria eyed the tome with interest. “Oh?”

Caleb smirked in understanding and wordlessly passed the tome to her. She snatched it from his hands excitedly and opened it to the index, reading through it and running her finger over the page. As she read the subject lines, her eyes lit up. “This book is amazing! You have more like it?”

Caleb nodded, motioning to the library. “I’ve been collecting books for almost a century, now. It’s probably not surprising, but you can collect a lot of vast information types with a century of time.”

Even Ray seemed intrigued by the possibilities this opened up. He caught Caleb’s eye, something being exchanged between the two of them. He looked at Victoria, who raised and eyebrow and tilted her head toward Caleb in query. Ray nodded, looking back at Caleb, who was following the exchange with curiosity.

“‘Toria already mentioned it, but if you’re able—and willing—I would like you to help with Julie’s training.”

Caleb’s face slackened in shock, but he nodded. “Of course, I’d love to help. I look forward to learning from you as well, Victoria.”

Victoria smiled. “And I you.”

“And while you all do that, I am going to raid your library.” Caleb couldn’t help but chuckle at the childish excitement that painted Ray’s voice at the thought of exploring the works in the library.

Caleb waved his hand, conjuring a pile of different colored sticky notes and a few pens. “To mark down the pages we’ll need to find later,” he explained.

Ray nodded, pulling the pink, purple, and orange sticky notes toward himself and snagging the black ballpoint pen and getting to work. He sent a quick text to Julie to check up on her, smiling and pocketing it when she sent a thumbs up. “Caleb?”

“Yes?”

“Would you mind putting wards around the school as well? Julie told me that the demon visited her outside. I’m taking her out of school until this is all over, but Flynn does not have the same opportunity. I’d like to keep her as safe as possible,” Ray explained.

Caleb nodded, already mulling it over. “Yes, I can do that. And I can place a spell on the kids that will let us know whether or not the demon is near them.”

“I can help as well,” Victoria volunteered. “Flynn deserves at least a little bit of protection. She is a lovely girl.”

Caleb smiled at her. “I can put together a few other protective measures for Flynn, to be sure nothing happens.”

Ray grinned appreciatively. “Thank you.”

“Of course.”

They settled in for more research, and Ray used the sticky notes liberally, enjoying the patterns they made. It would be time to head home in a bit, but for now they could have snacks.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed the Carrie scene as much as I did. I also hope I did her characterization justice. Hope you’re all doing well and have a nice day/night!


	11. Practice May Make Perfect but It’s Still Hella Frustrating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Julie sighed, looking down and hugging herself. “I…I have something I need to tell you.”
> 
> Luke gave her an imploring look, cocking his head and waiting for her to continue.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this took so long, we had to start packing today because we had to leave tomorrow instead of the day after, so I didn’t get the entire day to write like I thought I would. Thank you for your patience, everybody!
> 
> Anyway, if y’all saw my post, well...Honestly this thing has quite a few plotholes. I’m going to fix those, but first I want to finish everything first. I’m going to finish it all and then I’m going to go through and edit everything. It’ll be a while until that happens, though. I’ve been writing this for two months and I really haven’t gone back to reread anything lest it drive me insane (not the best writing method, I know). 
> 
> Alright, that’s all, I’ll let you all get on with the reading, let me know what you think!

“Calm your heart, _mija_ ,” Tía said softly.

Julie scrunched the bridge of her nose, scowling. “It is calm!”

Tía chuckled and sighed fondly. They had been practicing since nine in the morning, and it was eleven (still in the morning, though). Tía searched through her brain for a way to relate to Julie. She snapped a finger and grinned. “Julie, you know when you are performing? The way you feel as people cheer you on?”

Julie cocked her head in confusion, but nodded. “Yeah. I do.”

“The feeling of those people supporting you, it feels…magical, no?”

Julie nodded once again.

“I need you to search for that feeling, and try to recreate it. Think of that rush you feel when the crowd is cheering. _That_ is your magic, _sobrina_. You just need to _find it_.”

Julie straightened her head. “I…think I understand what you mean.”

Victoria nodded. “Good. Try again.”

Julie closed her, eyes, taking in a deep breath, waiting a few seconds, and letting it out. When she opened her eyes a few seconds later, they flashed a bright magenta before fading to her normal deep brown. Victoria smiled and clapped.

“Exactly! You found it, didn’t you?”

Julie nodded excitedly. “I think I did!”

Victoria’s cheeks lifted in a small, but soft smile. “Good. Now find it again.”

Julie closed her eyes, her hand tapping on her knee. Her finger sped up after several minutes of being unable to find it. Her eyes snapped open with a quiet cry of frustration. “I don’t get it! I found it, why can’t I again?”

Victoria put her hand over Julie’s, looking her in the eyes. “It is okay to get frustrated, but it takes practice. What is that saying? Do not practice until you get it correct, practice until you cannot get it _wrong_ , yes? Now, try again.”

Julie sighed. She hadn’t moved much from where she had sat on the blanket her tía had set up that morning, but her brow was covered in a thin sheen of perspiration. She could feel every time the power slipped out of her grasp, but the millisecond it was there sent a flood of energy rushing through her veins.

Julie didn’t read much. She enjoyed doing it when she did, but she often preferred drawing or working on songs and listening to them. Some of the books she had read spoke of “finding your inner power.” She figured that was just a load of authors that didn’t know what they were talking about trying to make stuff up. She was right about that but she was also wrong. They were almost correct, but it was so much more than looking inside yourself.

Julie grinned when she felt the power again, and it built quickly until it was simmering close to the top. She hadn’t felt this much, yet, and when she opened her eyes it was to Alex and Luke standing off to the corner of the room.

Tía’s face lit up at Julie’s brightly glowing eyes. “That’s it, mija! And so much, too.”

Luke noticed Julie looking at them, his face taking on the expression of a kid caught in the cookie jar. He gave a short wave, nudging Alex before _poof_ ing away. Julie felt the power lessen slightly, but it was still there, just not as noticeable as before. It went back to the lower level she had felt the first time when Alex disappeared too.

Tía’s eyebrows furrowed, and she turned around.

“Luke and Alex were just there,” Julie supplied.

Victoria nodded. “Did the power lessen when they left?”

Julie’s eyes widened as she realized. “Yeah, it did. Maybe it’s a soulmate thing?”

“Yes, probably. For now I’d like to see you summon it a few times on your own.”

Julie groaned, but went back to focusing on the feeling of her magic. They continued for another hour, and by the end Julie had sweat dripping down the side of her face. Tía passed her a towel, smiling in congratulations and telling her to practice that whenever she could, until she could summon the power without little to no effort.

Julie nodded, standing up to take a much-needed lunch break. Ray had made sandwiches, and she bit into hers gratefully.

——

Carlos grinned as he froze Reggie, leaving him to watch helplessly as Samus fell off screen. The boys had been playing Smash bros when they could, finding themselves bored at their inability to practice. Luke wanted to sit in on one of the magic lessons, but figured he should let Julie get her bearings first.

“Take that!” Reggie howled in laughter as he electrocuted Carlos’ Lucas in retaliation, sending Carlos’ character flying into the air before kicking him clean off the stage.

Luke sat back and watched it happen. He had been killed (in the game) a minute or so ago. Now it was just a matter of seeing who would win.

Alex grimaced and stood up. “I think I need some air. I’ll be back in a little bit.”

Luke raised an eyebrow in concern, but nodded.

Alex’s eyes seemed to focus on him just barely, and he nodded. “Yeah.”

Since it was barely midday, the club wasn’t as active as it was at night. It still had an hour or so before ghosts would be running around getting ready last minute for that night’s entertainment. Alex flagged down one of the wandering ghosts, hoping he wasn’t actually waving to a plant and sighing in relief when they responded.

“What can I do ya for, Alex?” Logan asked, faer voice peppy.

“Do you know where Caleb is?”

“Yep! Mr. Covington is in his study, I believe, going over the books. Does that help?”

Alex nodded. “Yes, it does, thank you!”

“Of course! Bye Alex.” Logan gave a jaunty wave before skipping off, faer boots clunking on the rugged floor as they bounced away.

Alex took his time making his way to Caleb’s study, running over what he wanted to ask in his head and drumming his hand against his thigh. He stopped in front of Caleb’s study and paced for a few seconds. It wasn’t even a bad favor, really. Alex was just nervous around authority figures, really, especially when it came to asking them things. He had become more comfortable with Caleb, but he still sometimes found his heart pounding at the thought of asking anyone anything.

Alex shook his head and lifted his hand up, knocking quickly and sharply before he could chicken out.

“Come in!” Caleb called.

Alex walked through the door, waiting until Caleb looked up, his face lifting into a smile. “Alex! So nice to see you. What’s up?”

Alex’s fingers sped up their drumming on his thigh. “I was—well—wonder—I was wondering if I could…ask a favor?”

Caleb nodded, steepling his fingers and spinning his chair around so he could completely face the boy. “What favor?”

“I was wondering if you could find my family? From—from when I was alive?”

Caleb’s eyebrows furrowed as he cast his gaze to the ceiling in thought briefly. “I believe I should be able to, yes.”

“Could—could you find Reggie’s too?” Alex’s palms were sweating slightly, but he waited with baited breath. His vision wasn’t as horrible as it had been, but whatever facial micro-expressions Caleb made were lost on him.

“I can look for his as well, yes. It will most likely take a few days, though,” Caleb warned.

Alex nodded. “Yeah, of course, yeah. Thank you.”

“Of course, Alex. Is there anything else? You’re welcome to hang out here for a while, if you’d like.”

Alex shook his head. “No, I think I’m good.”

“Alright, well, the invitation doesn’t expire.” From Caleb’s tone, Alex could tell he had probably winked or something close, and he smiled back softly.

“Thank you, Caleb.”

“Don’t mention it. Oh, and I have one other thing!” Caleb called last minute, causing Alex to pause. He could hear and kind of make out Caleb rustling in his desk, pulling something out triumphantly. He pushed against his desk, sending his chair rolling across the floor to a stop in front of Alex.

Alex was slightly surprised when Caleb pushed something in his hands. He looked down, his eyes narrowing in confusion at the block-shaped object in his hand. Further exploration told him that they were shaped like…like glasses. “Glasses?”

“Magically enhanced so they should match whatever prescription you need. It shouldn’t heal the vision problems entirely, though, if they really are of demonic origin, but it should help.” Caleb shrugged, and Alex unfolded the glasses to put them on his face.

Caleb was right, it wasn’t perfect, and farther away things were still quite blurry, but he could make out Caleb’s features relatively clearly now, so he was happy.

——

“How was Julie?” Ray asked, sipping his tea as he looked inquiringly at his sister-in-law.

Tía smiled. “She will be a powerful woman. Especially with those soulmates of hers. I can already see it.”

Ray grinned. “I’m not surprised, I always knew she was special.”

“Yes, she is.” Victoria laughed, looking up as Julie rushed into the kitchen, grabbing various food items and a blanket out of the closet in the other room before rushing back outside.

——

“I know you can’t eat all the time, but I figured we could try?” Julie shrugged, watching as Luke whipped the blanket flat on the ground. She set down the stuff she had gathered, picking up a bag of chips and offering them to him.

Luke accepted them with a smile, opening the bag with the sound of a crinkle. He figured he could try some chips, but he hoped they wouldn’t make his throat feel any worse. The feeling of having gargled and swallowed glass had gone away, leaving behind the irritating itch of having swallowed something prickly but not quite too sharp.

Julie looked away, pulling out a juice box, and Luke managed to swallow several chips, his eyes closing of their own accord at the taste. Julie ate quietly, obviously thinking about something, before falling backward to stare at the sky. Luke joined her with a rough chuckle, looking over at her and meeting eyes before they both cast their eyes back to the clouds.

Julie’s arm went up to point at something in his peripherals, and he tried to find what she was pointing at. “That one’s a dragon. It’s a really fat dragon.”

Luke’s eyes narrowed, trying to see what she meant. He shook his head and rasped out, “Submarine.”

Julie smiled at the fact that he had managed to say something, but she smacked his shoulder lightly. “Obviously you don’t know what a submarine looks like. That is _clearly_ a dragon.”

Luke shrugged but shook his head with a grin. Julie nudged him, her laugh breaking through the air and sending tingles down Luke’s spine as he laughed with her. He always loved making her happy. It was a submarine though. She must not know what a dragon looked like.

As if hearing his inner monologue, Julie shoved him again before collapsing bonelessly back to the blanket. She lay there and just breathed for a few minutes. Luke breathed with her. He wasn’t used to being so…quiet. He didn’t like it.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do,” Julie confessed quietly.

Luke looked over to her, his eyes soft as he nudged her in question.

Julie met his eyes and then broke their stare with a somewhat bitter scoff. She shrugged, the motion a bit odd since she was still laying down, but still there. “It’s just—I suddenly have all this _power_ , yeah? I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with it! And I’m pretty sure _I’m_ going to be the one that casts the ritual, and I don’t know if I’m ready for that. What if it goes wrong? What if—what if I _hurt_ you guys?” Her voice broke, her eyes watering at the thought of everything going wrong. There were so many ways it could, all of them ranging from bad to worse and she was starting to reconsider doing it at all.

Luke sat up, pulling her up with him and tugging her into a firm hug. He broke it to stare her in the eyes intently. “I trust you.” His voice was quiet, raspy, but no less convicted.

Julie gave a watery smile. She reached up and wiped her eyes swiftly, rubbing them to get rid of excess moisture. Luke waited patiently, passing her one of the napkins she had brought outside, which she accepted gratefully. Julie cleared her throat. “I—are you okay with the ritual?”

Luke nodded. “Like I said,” he smiled, “I trust you.” Hopefully the issues with his voice would be resolved when the whole being dead thing did, too. Singing was his life, and he didn’t know what he would do without it. Julie could carry the band all on her own, he and the boys knew this, but he enjoyed being able to lend vocal support, not just use his guitar.

Julie smiled again, unaware of the thoughts running through his head. She sighed, looking down and hugging herself. “I…I have something I need to tell you.”

Luke gave her an imploring look, cocking his head and waiting for her to continue.

“I—that is to say—the demon visited me after school on Monday,” Julie sighed.

“ _What?!_ ” Luke cried hoarsely, wincing at the strain it put on his throat. Julie passed him her juice box, and he held onto the wings, managing to force some down his throat.

“He…” Julie’s eyes watered again, but she hurriedly wiped the tears away, muttering about something in her eye. “He found me after school. He said—he said that he had—had made you sick and—that you guys would—that you’d be destroyed if you didn’t get the antidote.”

Luke had to admit this was somewhat worrying. He’d already had to face down the thought of being destroyed. He didn’t want to have to again.

Julie soldiered on determinedly. “He wants me—us to give him our power for the antidote. My dad said he’d look into it with Caleb but I don’t know what to do. He said he’d give me a few days, and he’s probably going to show up tomorrow and—”

Luke had been around Alex long enough to recognize the signs of an incoming spiral from someone, so he put his hands on Julie’s shoulders firmly.

Julie looked back up at him, taking in a deep breath and trying to relax. She sniffled, wiping at her nose and sighing. Luke’s eyes conveyed what he wanted to say without him even trying, and she nodded. “I know you’re going to say not to. And I don’t—I just don’t want to lose you guys again,” she said quietly, sadly.

Luke’s expression was soft in understanding, but he didn’t change his mind. He laid back down, pulling Julie down with him and staring at the sky. He pointed up at a thin cloud, “Stick.”

Julie giggled wetly, squirming in his arms. “How can a cloud be shaped like a stick? Sticks come in any shape that’s basically just saying it’s a thin cloud.”

Luke grinned and insisted, “‘S a stick.”

Julie shook her head in fond exasperation. “Yeah, okay.” She went silent in contemplation, and Luke didn’t try to push her. He recognized the need to process thoughts. “I should tell Alex and Reggie too.”

Luke winced but nodded. She wasn’t wrong.

The sun shone down on the two of them despite the slight chill in the air. Julie closed her eyes and tried to relax for a little bit. She would tell the boys soon, but for now she could listen to the rustling of the dry leaves on the ground being pushed around by the wind, and the feeling of her nose and cheeks warming from the sunlight.

Luke hugged her close to him, waiting until she was ready to get up. When she did, she started organizing the trash and the food that would have to go back in the fridge. Luke helped, taking the food and vanishing to the kitchen where he put it all away. He walked back outside, taking the time to think about what would happen.

He was…well. He wasn’t _fine_ with the thought of being destroyed. He hadn’t been the first or second time around, either. This time, though, he felt somewhat numb to the idea. It had already happened once (when they had died). Had almost happened twice. It was…it was kind of old news, by this point. That wasn’t to say that he didn’t find his palms going sweaty at the thought of just _not existing_ , but he didn’t feel as terrified as he had in the alley, and then in the ambulance. What would happen would happen, and he couldn’t do much to help it.

He ignored the traitorous voice in the back of his head, whispering, ‘but you could’.

He wished he could save Alex and Reggie though, and protect Julie from the pain of losing them.

Maybe it was just a bluff?

‘ _But the jolts weren’t a bluff_.’

Luke sighed, forcing his face to go blank as Julie looked up from where she was folding the blanket. She left it partially unfolded and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling it tight around herself. “We should go tell the guys,” she sighed, looking at the studio as if she were walking to her doom.

Luke poked her, and then poked her again. Julie giggled as she batted his hand away. Luke slung an arm around her shoulder, tugging her toward the studio. “Get it over with.” Luke’s tone didn’t match the connotation of his words, and he grinned at her. She understood what he meant. She should get it over with so it wasn’t looming over her head.

Julie nodded. “Yeah, you’re right.”

Carlos was battling it out with Reggie on the switch, his face alight with a grin.

“Carlos?” Julie cleared her throat.

“Yeah?” Carlos didn’t look up from the screen, paying her somewhat absentminded attention.

“After this round can I talk to the boys? Alone?”

Carlos paused the game, causing Reggie to look up with a pout. He had heard Julie’s voice, but everything still sounded a little far away, with an undercurrent of rushing water, and he hadn’t tried to hear what Julie was saying. “Why?” Carlos asked, his eyes narrowing.

Julie scowled. “It’s nothing, just something I need to talk to them about privately.”

Carlos smirked, his eyebrows wiggling. “Oooo. Is it sooouuulmate stuff?”

“Carlos, you know it’s not like that,” Julie groaned. Luke laughed at her side. The discussion explaining the soulmates thing to Carlos had taken _forever_ and he still would not stop bringing it up.

Carlos smirked, unpausing the game and turning his attention back to it. “I know. It’s still fun to tease you about, though.”

Julie pinned him with a dirty look, but went to flop on the couch and wait somewhat patiently. She could do with the extra time before having to tell the guys what was going on. Luke joined her, sitting a few inches apart and leaning his head back.

Alex looked up from where he was tapping out a quiet rhythm with his drumsticks on the leg of the coffee table. “What did you want to talk to us about?”

Julie looked at Luke, who shrugged. She grimaced. “I think it would be better if I waited for Reggie.”

She could tell that Alex was curious, but was willing to wait, and he returned to tapping out a rhythm on the table leg. Julie closed her eyes, focusing on the sounds of Reggie and Carlos battling it out on the switch, the tapping of the drumsticks, and let it lull her into a more relaxed state.

She hadn’t realized she had fallen into a light doze, when Luke nudged her awake. Carlos gave her a mock salute and left the studio as she rubbed her eyes.

“So what did you want to tell us?” Alex asked again, twirling a drumstick in his hand. Julie took a second to notice the square glasses on his face, something her eyes had completely glossed over until now. Since when had he gotten those?

Julie looked at Luke, her eyes worried, and he nudged her in encouragement. She took a deep breath before stuttering through the same explanation she had given Luke not much earlier. Reggie’s eyebrows drew steadily inward as her explanation continued, and Alex’s twirling drumstick moved even faster, as did the other hand, where he was drumming his fingers on his thigh.

The drumstick went flying out of his hand. “Dammit,” Alex muttered.

It wasn’t a surprise, really, but it broke the tension laying over the air like a duvet comforter, and Julie barked out a quiet laugh. Reggie smiled at her, and Luke chuckled lightly. Alex sat down, the retrieved drumstick clutched tightly in white-knuckled hands and his cheeks tinged pink.

“My dad said he would look into it with Caleb, but…” Julie finished with a hopeful shrug. At this point she was too exhausted for tears, even though the thought of what could happen made her want to scream at the world.

“Caleb will figure it out,” Reggie decided after a moment.

Julie looked at him in surprise at the surety in his voice. Reggie caught her look and shrugged defensively. “What? He’s figured things out before, and even if he doesn’t I’m sure things will work out.”

Julie smiled at the optimism. Even though it wasn’t necessarily realistic, it still lifted her hopes.

“We don’t always get a get-out-of-jail-free card, Reg,” Alex murmured.

Reggie shrugged. “I’m not saying we do. But things usually work out for us, don’t they?”

Looking at it from that point of view, yeah, Julie could see where Reggie was coming from. They did have good luck (well, kind of). They may have died, but they still came back. They could be _seen_ , heard. They had thought they were going to be destroyed completely once before but it had turned out for the better. She guessed things did have a tend of working out for them somehow.

Alex gave a bittersweet smile, not finding anyway to correct Reggie. He was right, though.

Luke shrugged, jumping on the optimism wagon. “Besides, it doesn’t feel like the jolts. Not destroy-ey enough.”

Reggie winced at the sound of Luke’s voice. “Dude you sound horrible and I’m still partially deaf.”

Luke stuck his tongue out childishly, and Reggie responded in kind. Alex just shook his head and Julie couldn’t help a giggle.

Reggie sobered up after a minute, though. “You know we can’t give him anything, right?”

Julie sighed and nodded. “I know, I know. Maybe Caleb can find an antidote or something?”

Alex shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Bluffing?” Luke suggested, his voice cracking in the middle. He sighed and rolled his eyes internally.

Julie seemed to grab onto any hope she could, and her eyes lit up. “Yeah! Maybe he’s bluffing! He’s a demon, they lie, right? Maybe you guys are just—are just sick or something and he’s making it into more than it is.”

The boys shrugged noncommittally.

Reggie smiled without any humor. “Hey, we’ll know soon enough, right?” He shrugged. 

Alex rolled his eyes and sent an apologetic look to Julie.

“ _Dude_ ,” Luke sighed, putting his face in his hand and shaking it slightly.

Reggie looked confused. “What?”

Julie shook her head. “Nothing, it’s nothing. You’re right. We’ll know soon enough.”

One of the studio doors creaked open, and Victoria stuck her head in, looking around until she found Julie on the couch. “Ah, Julie. Come, I think I figured out the ritual. Those ghost boys of yours can come too,” she added as an afterthought.

Julie launched off the couch, and the boys scrambled to stand too. Victoria left the door open as she left, and Julie and the boys bolted after her. Reggie speedwalked straight through the door and then tripped over his own feet. Luke grinned and shook his head, grabbing Reggie before he could fall and hauling him up to follow. Reggie shot him a grateful look and they continued, running straight through the walls of the house.

Tía had her Grimoire, her BOS, and the small black journal the idea of the ritual had originally been found in spread out on the coffee table, several books around it. In the middle was a large, stark white paper covered in diagrams and notes made with various colors and shapes. Julie looked at her tía in confusion.

“I don’t get it,” she said finally, after a moment of examining the diagram. Reggie, Luke, and Alex all peered over her shoulder to see what was on the diagram.

Victoria sighed. “Yes, well, I guess you haven’t been learning long enough to understand everything. These are my notes on the ritual and everything.”

Julie grinned, looking at the spread on the coffee table with newfound interest. “You mean—”

“As in you know how to make us alive again?” Alex whispered, his eyes wide as he looked at Victoria.

She nodded and clapped her hands together. “Yes! That is exactly it! Of course, Caleb said we may want to practice on a ghost animal or something, since it won’t take as much preparation and not as many materials, but it should work!”

Luke and Julie exchanged excited looks with the boys and then each other, pulling everybody into a hug and bouncing from excitement. Tía looked on and smiled, laughing a little to herself. Carlos, not one to be left out, came thudding down the stairs, his eyes meeting the scene and his head cocking in confusion.

“What’s going on?”

The band separated from their large group hug, looking at Carlos and freezing for a moment. The spell was broken when they burst into laughter.

Carlos pouted, looking at Tía. “What happened?” He whined. 

Tía only shook her head and chuckled. She would let Julie and the boys explain, and then she would explain what exactly they had to do to make this happen. She could let them celebrate a bit longer, though. They deserved it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hehe the plot thickens. Tell me how I did? I’m kind of worried about my characterization and everything. 
> 
> Anyway, like I’ve said, comments always make my day and make me smile, so don’t be afraid to leave one! Even if it’s just one word, I’ll still appreciate it immensely. They always make me smile. 
> 
> I hope this finds everyone in good health (hello yes I am an email opening from a corporate account), and that you’re all doing well and staying safe in these trying times, as well as doing your part to keep others safe (wearing a mask). Hope you all have a lovely day, week, etc. Thank you all for continuing to read this!


	12. Let’s Go to Candy Mountain Charliiiiieeee

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unicorns. And family. 
> 
> Let’s see if candy mountain yields anything worthwhile, shall we?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi all! Sorry this is late!
> 
> First off, warning for this chapter: low-level implied child abuse, primarily with words, but y’know, better safe than sorry. It’s in the part where you find out who Lola is, in the last few sentences, I believe. Feel free to skip it if you need to. 
> 
> Second: The next update will be two weeks from now, not one. I’m really sorry, but I need to get some plot stuff under control so I’m not scrambling to finish each chapter at the last minute (I lost my buffer...oops?). Don’t worry, this is going to be updated two weeks from now. I know exactly where this story is going, I just need to iron out some details so I’m less likely to make mistakes. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and happy reading!

Reggie groaned, flopping onto the air mattress Ray had left in the studio and slinging an arm over his eyes. “If my ears could stop simulating a school bell all the time that would be great,” he muttered tiredly.

Luke grimaced sympathetically, placing his hand on Reggie’s shoulder and squeezing.

“I have something that might cheer you up?” Alex said hesitantly.

Reggie picked his head up, raising his eyebrows. “What?”

“I…asked Caleb to see if he could find our families,” Alex admitted, shrugging.

Reggie’s jaw dropped. “Wait, seriously?”

Alex nodded. “He said it would probably take a day or two, but that he could do it.”

“That’s great!” Reggie grinned, pumping a fist into the air.

“Good thinking Alex!” Luke cheered. Well, cheered as much as he could, anyway.

Alex shrugged again. “I just—I figured it would be nice to know what happened to them. I want—need—to see where Lola ended up.” Lola, his younger sister, had been thirteen when he died. She had been _furious_ at their parents. They hadn’t kicked Alex out of the house, instead going on to pretend that it had never happened. His father only let it slip when he was angry with him, and never in view of his sister (never anything bad enough to bruise). Their father preferred cutting words. Lola never felt like she managed to protect Alex enough—nevermind that as the older brother it was Alex’s job to do the protecting.

Reggie nodded in agreement. “And I want to see where my siblings ended up!” Alex could tell he understood what Alex meant, but also knew it didn’t need to be acknowledged.

Luke’s eyebrows were furrowed, like he was thinking of something hard.

“What is it?” Alex asked, an eyebrow raised knowingly.

“I…might know what our unfinished business is?” Luke didn’t sound sure of himself.

“Really?” Reggie sat up straight, the air mattress bouncing with the movement. “Well c’mon dude! Tell us!”

Luke still seemed hesitant when he started, “Well, think about it, right? None of us really had good relationships with our families, even if we wanted to, and we all planned on going back after the Orpheum performance to prove ourselves, right? But we never got the chance.” Luke’s voice grew quiet and husky from overuse by the end of it.

Alex’s eyes widened. “Oh my God.”

“What if our unfinished business is—is moving on from our families and—and coming to terms with everything, yeah?” Luke was bouncing excitedly where he sat, grinning.

“Oh my God,” Alex said again, his face lighting up in a smile.

“But what if we’re wrong?” Reggie hedged, his voice quiet and his eyebrows furrowed in thought.

Luke shrugged. “So wha—” his voice cut off and he coughed, bending over as he cleared his throat and hacked out a few more coughs. When he sat back up, his eyes were no less intense as he continued vehemently, “So what? Don’t we deserve this much, at least?”

Reggie’s eyes were wide in concern, but he nodded and looked down. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Luke smiled at him, clearing his throat once more.

“We should probably go tell Victoria and Caleb, right?” Alex asked.

Luke nodded pointing a finger. “Yes, yeah, we should.” His voice was still harsh, but no amount of clearing his throat fixed it so he hoped it would clear up on its own.

——

Caleb wasn’t able to meet with them until half an hour later due to club business, but when he did it was with a thin book. He smiled and greeted the Molina family and the boys, who decided to tell them about the unfinished business thing later. It seemed like they had other things to discuss.

“I believe I’ve found what you were looking for, Victoria,” he said, presenting the book to her.

She took it with a grateful smile, placing it on the coffee table and sitting down, prompting the others to do the same. “So,” she started, “We believe we’ve found the ingredients required to do the ritual.”

Julie’s eyes brightened. “Really? What are they?”

“Is it anything weird?” Reggie asked, his tone morbidly curious.

Caleb snorted, shaking his head and sharing a fondly exasperated look with the others. “You might consider it as much, but not really.”

Reggie pouted but shrugged.

“Anyway,” Tía said pointedly, drawing them back to the matter at hand. They all focused back on her as she flipped open the book to a very specific page.

_Unicorns._

“Oh my gosh,” Julie gasped. “ _Unicorns_?”

Victoria smiled at her, nodding. The boys’ eyes were wide as they shoved each other excitedly. She laughed. “You all know about the unfinished business aspect, of course. We have most of the ingredients that are needed, but we are missing one. We will need shavings from a unicorn horn. They are native to Scotland, but a few were able to make their way here and are spread among the national parks.

“Their horns are imbued with healing abilities, and their magic is the magic of life, which is why it is vital we get this ingredient. Julie, I believe you will be best suited to finding the unicorn because you share similar aspects in your magical types. One of the boys may go with you, too.”

Julie gulped, still trying to process the fact that _unicorns_ existed. Apparently they hadn’t been washed away in the Great Flood like the song said.

Caleb, noticing the break in conversation, caught Alex’s gaze, motioning with his head to move to the kitchen. Alex cocked his head, but got up quietly, Caleb following.

“What’s up?” Alex asked.

“I found your family,” Caleb replied, pulling out his phone (Alex didn’t quite understand how he had one, since he was dead and all, but he figured it was better not to question it) and opened a note. “Your parents moved neighborhoods, and your sister also still lives in LA. These are the addresses. I haven’t found Reggie’s family yet, but I am close.”

Alex smiled, a small quirk of the lips, and read through the address to comit it to memory. “Thank you,” he said softly.

Caleb nodded and smiled back. “Of course. I hope you find what you’re looking for.”

“I will, I think.”

Caleb shook Alex’s hand firmly and popped back into the living room.

Victoria acknowledged him with a small nod of the head. “A group that is too large will make it less likely the unicorn will come, so you,—” she nodded to Julie—“your _papá_ , Caleb, and one of your boys will go with you. Having one of your soulmates there will make it easier to access your magic and project it, and Caleb will be able to help you with any magical issues.”

Julie nodded.

“I can house sit,” Reggie offered.

Julie raised an eyebrow. “You don’t want to see a unicorn?”

Reggie shrugged sheepishly. “I figured I could wait for Carlos to get home and hang out with him.”

Alex cleared his throat, looking down. “I have something I want to take care of.”

“Ooo-kay? I guess that means you’re coming with me, Luke,” Julie smiled at him, even though they could all tell she was curious about why the other two couldn’t come.

“Make sure you eat something first, _mija_ ,” Ray reminded gently.

Julie nodded. “Yep!”

——

Alex had left the others in their preparations to go to the state park. He stood in front of one of the addresses he had committed to memory, trying to ignore the phantom feeling of his heart pounding through his body. You just have to go in, he chided himself. _It’s that simple, just_ poof _inside_.

He looked down. What if they were home? He hadn’t seen any movement inside, but what if?

A very distinct _poof_ sounded from right next to him, and he jumped, whirling around defensively. Willie grinned and raised his hands in surrender. “It’s just me, Hotdog.”

The tension released from Alex’s shoulders in relief and he sighed. “What are you doing here?”

Willie shrugged. “A little birdie told me you might need some…moral support.”

Alex smiled, but it fell when he looked back in the house. “Caleb found my parents,” he said softly. “I don’t know, I just…I don’t want to go in there and risk finding what I know will probably be there.”

“And what do you think will be there?” Willie’s eyes were soft, and Alex could tell he had an idea of what Alex thought would be in there.

Alex shrugged. “Nothing. They—Lola—my sister—she told me that they’d taken down all of my pictures and everything, like I was never there after I left. It hurt, y’know? And I guess—I think I’m just scared that nothing will have changed.”

Willie nodded sympathetically. “And staying out here means you don’t have to actually know yet.”

Alex shrugged again and nodded, studying the cement.

“But isn’t the suspense of not knowing making it worse?” Willie suggested gently, putting a hand on Alex’s shoulder and forcing him to meet his eyes.

“You’re probably right,” Alex mumbled. He looked back up at the house, visibly steel in himself and disappearing inside. His eyes stayed close for a few moments before he forced them open and saw Willie standing next to him wordlessly.

The mantle was something that had been important in his old home. His parents had the typical family pictures, pictures of their first communions, and a few academic achievements. Lola said that when he had finally left, it was like he had never been there. His parents had taken her and gotten a separate family picture, without him, and all of his pictures had vanished. Lola couldn’t find them anywhere, no matter how hard she had looked.

This mantle was different, though. It had pictures of a few children Alex didn’t know, but some small part of him figured it might be Lola’s kids or something similar. Right in the middle was a mug, something he had made for his parents in first grade for Christmas. His attempted Christmas tree painting had turned out to be shaped more like a church bell, and his messy writing of “Merry Christmas Mom and Dad!” was squished together and runny. The sight of it brought tears to his eyes.

Willie put a hand on his back in support, and Alex caught his breath when he saw what was in the mug. It was his first set of drumsticks, half the size his were now, and one of his favorite sets, but someone had painted them like a rainbow. He remembered receiving his first set for his tenth birthday after asking for them for forever; he had been so _happy_.

There was one picture of him on the mantle, one taken right before he had come out and they had started ignoring him (before he finally ran away). He was smiling, an arm wrapped around Lola as he paid no mind to the camera taking the picture.

“I didn’t think—they—the _mug_ ,” Alex choked out.

“A nice surprise from what you thought it would be?” Willie had a questioning smile, and Alex nodded soundlessly.

His eyes returned to the mantle. “Can I have a moment?” He asked quietly.

“Sure, dude. I’m here if you need me.” Willie pulled him in for a tight hug before _poof_ ing away.

Alex smiled and walked up to the mantle, his fingers ghosting over the picture of him.

——

“So how far do we need to go?” Julie asked, casting a glance around the towering trees. The sun was having a hard time breaking through them, but it managed just enough that it painted specks of light along the forest floor.

Caleb shrugged. “Probably a little farther. The unicorns will be in a less frequented area since there is less chance they will be seen.”

Julie nodded, stepping over another root. Ray and Luke were following a few feet behind them, content to walk in silence (not that Luke had much choice, even though he could kind of talk now).

They walked for a few more minutes before Caleb finally called them to a stop. Julie sighed in relief. She didn’t hate hiking—actually, she thought it could be fun—but today was blazing with more heat than usual for October, even with the shade from the trees.

When Caleb didn’t say anything right away, Julie cleared her throat. “So…what now?”

“Find your magic like Victoria taught you,” Caleb started. “Imagine it spreading out through the forest, but like a metal detector that’s actually looking for unicorns.”

Julie raised an eyebrow and Luke chuckled.

“A unicorn detector?” Ray suggested, smirking.

Caleb shot him a playfully dirty look before turning back to Julie and sighing. “Yes, a unicorn detector. If you find one, it should be able to sense your magic and follow it to the origin: you.”

Julie nodded. “Sure, piece of cake. I can do that, no problem.”

She sat down in front of one of the trees, and Luke sat down next to her.

“You got this, Jules,” he assured, smiling at her and giving her a thumbs up.

She smiled back, taking in a deep breath and letting it out. “I got this,” she whispered to herself, closing her eyes.

The familiar tingle of her magic was easier to find with Luke there, but she still had to make sure it didn’t slip from her grasp like water. She tried to imagine the path they had taken, the feeling of the earth under her feet and picturing her magic spreading through the soil and the trees, but all she could manage was a fuzzy impression of things.

This was going to take a while.

Yay her.

——

Alex had left his parents’ house after exploring, tears impeding his already blurry vision. Now, he found himself inside the second address. He hadn’t wanted to risk chickening out like he almost had at his parents’ house, and had appeared right inside.

“You have everything you need, dear?” A woman asked. She was thick set, but her dark skin held a healthy glow and she smiled lovingly. This wasn’t his sister.

“Yes, angel.” Ah. That was his sister.

Were they dating? No…no. That wasn’t it. They had rings, and a brief look around showed a wedding picture of the two of them. His sister was—?

Lola held a bouquet of multicolored flowers in her hand. It wasn’t large. Relatively small, actually, but Alex felt that it would probably fit whatever she had planned them for.

“I’ll have a glass of hot chocolate waiting for you,” the other woman said, smiling and pulling her in for a quick kiss. Alex looked away. This wasn’t something he should see. They thought they were alone.

“Thanks, Naomi.” Lola pecked her on the cheek one more time, saying, “I love you,” and walking out the door. Alex looked at Naomi quickly but rushed to follow his sister out, wondering where she was going.

He didn’t realize until they were pulling up to the gates, but she was going to the graveyard. Alex had a bad feeling about this. The boys had never looked into what had been done with their bodies, figuring it would be best if they didn’t know, but Alex had a feeling he was about to find out.

A soft breeze rustled the trees that were scattered throughout the cemetery. Lola walked with a purpose, but not particularly fast. She came to a stop a few feet away from a simple gravestone. Alex didn’t read what was on it. He didn’t think he wanted to.

“Naomi and I have our anniversary coming up,” Lola said softly.

Part of Alex wanted to leave, feeling like he was intruding on another private moment. The other part recognized that technically Lola was talking to him, so it would be worth it to stay and listen.

“Matty, my oldest, she got first place at her competition. She’s doing so well, y’know? Naomi’s been helping her with her math, too. And Asher is doing so well in school…” Lola continued to talk about what had been happening. Alex sat down criss cross and listened earnestly.

Lola stopped after a bit, trailing off. Her chin trembled. “I miss you so much, ‘Lex.”

Alex stood up hesitantly. She had gotten so _big_. She had grown into a woman without him, and he couldn’t help but mourn the loss of time for the two of them. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and didn’t move it even when she tensed up. “I’m so sorry, Lo. I wish I could’ve been there, for everything, but I am so, so proud. I love you, Lola.”

Lola’s shoulders shook, tears streaming down her face as she put a hand over Alex’s, not that she knew it for sure. “Love you too, ‘Lex.”

Alex pressed a soft kiss to the crown of her head. She sighed, gathering herself back up. She cast one last look back at the gravestone, blowing a shaky kiss before turning around and walking away. Alex walked away, deciding not to follow her. He turned, chancing a look at the gravestone.

_Alex M. Mercer_

_November 13ᵗʰ 1977 – July 22ⁿᵈ, 1995_

_Gone too soon; a loving brother_

_and amazing son_

Alex looked away. The air flashed with a blinding golden glow and he shielded his eyes, wincing. When the light died down he looked back up, his eyebrows furrowing at a glowing but otherwise normal-looking door not a yard in front of him, wide open.

“What?”

——

“I am never going to get this!” Julie cried in frustration, smacking the ground. Every time it was something that made her fail. A small animal broke her concentration, her magic slipped out of her grasp, the focus required to both use and call her magic made her head pound in tandem with her heart.

“It takes practice, Julie. You’ll get it eventually,” Caleb assured her. Luke put a hand on her shoulder and met her eyes, not even needing to use words to say what he wanted to.

Julie broke the stare, her face crumpling. “But what if I don’t! You guys expect me to be this amazingly powerful witch but I can barely access my powers! I’m never going to find this unicorn and the ritual will fail and it will be _all my fault!_ ” She cried, her voice ringing with frustration as she broke away from Luke’s hold, looking at the ground with tears stinging her eyes.

Ray walked up to her and knelt in front of her, the pine needles crackling under his knees. He took Julie’s hands in his own, tilting her chin up to look him in the eyes. “ _Mija_ , it’s okay. The weight of the world is not on your shoulders. We can find other ways to do this, it does not all rest on you. If you wish to try again, take a deep breath and focus yourself, just like you do before a performance, yes?”

Julie nodded, sniffling. “Okay.”

“Besides, you just started learning about your powers! I bet you’re doing really well even though you’ve just learned about them!” Luke grinned softly, looking at Caleb for agreement.

Caleb nodded. “They are both correct. It often takes a few weeks for anyone to be able to hold onto their magic, let alone to use it. You are doing exceedingly well, Julie, for someone who has just begun.”

Julie wished her mother was there. She would be able to help, even if she hadn’t been a great witch like her tía said. Even being _there_ would have been enough. Rose wasn’t there, though, even if Julie kept praying that she was a ghost like the boys. Birds chirped in the distance, and Julie forced herself to believe that somewhere out there her mother was watching, encouraging her to continue. She could do this.

Julie breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth, closing her eyes and reaching her again for her magic. She would find that unicorn, dammit, and she would do it today so she didn’t have to worry about this again. Just like schoolwork.

Julie made sure not to pay attention to the tinier animals, to maintain her hold on the magic that felt like it wanted to escape into the air. There was a squirrel coming down from a tree, a bird pecking through the ground. There were various bugs that made Julie’s skin crawl.

_There._

Hooves.

Featherlight across the forest floor and barely disturbing the fallen needles and surrounding animals. She could feel it look up and around, sensing her presence, and she tried to convey a greeting, but she couldn’t tell if it had worked or not. The creature tossed its head with a snort.

Julie felt her magic calm inside her, for once not attempting to get away from her. She sighed and pulled back, opening her eyes. “I found one. If it’s going to come it will. I think we just have to wait.”

“Good job,” Caleb said sincerely, smiling at Julie, who nodded.

Luke nudged her. “Knew you could do it,” he whispered, smirking.

Julie laughed and pushed him right back. “Yeah, yeah.”

A squirrel bolted into the area, right near Ray’s feet. A near-silent crack of a fallen twig sounded and they all looked up worriedly. Julie sucked in a breath when a charcoal grey unicorn walked through the surrounding trees, its eyes glittering as the sun speckled its back. Its horn shone, even with minimal light, and it’s hide shimmered gently.

“Oh my gosh,” Julie breathed. Luke could only nod mutely. Caleb and Ray’s eyes were wide, but they stayed silent.

Julie got up from where she was sitting, pulling Luke up with her. The dirt moved under her feet as she walked up to the unicorn tentatively, her hands out at her sides. “Hi there. My name’s Julie.”

The unicorn whinnied, tossing its head again and snorting, but it didn’t move at all otherwise. Julie came to a stop in front of it. She brought up a hand slowly, carefully, ignoring Ray’s muttered cautions to her. Its hair was soft under her hand. Both of them stayed completely still, the unicorn looking into Julie’s eyes. She had a feeling the unicorn could understand her intent, even if they couldn’t quite communicate with words.

“I was wondering if I could have some shavings from your horn,” Julie said softly, barely daring to breath. She could feel Luke’s presence not even a foot behind her, but he made no move to come closer. “It’s to help my soulmates, you see. They died when they were really young,” Luke sucked in a shaky breath, but said nothing. “We’re trying to bring them back. But we need you to help.”

Julie’s heart pounded, trying to escape her chest, and her forehead perspired. The unicorn stayed still for a few seconds before dipping its head in what might have been a nod. Julie smiled at it. She dropped her hand when the unicorn moved away and up against a tree. It scratched its horn down the tree, the sound tinkling like bells, and iridescent grey shavings fell. They didn’t touch the ground, giving Julie enough time to pull out the container they had brought and to catch the shavings in it.

The container hadn’t filled much by the time the unicorn stopped, but Julie had a feeling there was plenty in there. The unicorn neighed and shook its head, nudging Julie carefully before turning and walking off.

Everyone stayed silent for minutes after it had gone, none of them daring to break the awe-filled silence.

Julie eventually cleared her throat. “This should be enough, right?”

“Plenty,” Caleb said softly, still staring at the spot where the unicorn had left.

“Good.”

——

Alex was getting frustrated. No. Scratch that. He was _already_ frustrated. The door just wouldn’t go away! He’d run into it and stubbed his toe by accident and he’d also tried walking away from it. The door just followed him. He’d tried closing it (it would disappear swiftly but return moments later) and walking through it (he never wound up anywhere, since apparently it led nowhere).

He didn’t want to be followed around by a door for the rest of eternity. People—himself included—would run into it too much. The constant glow was annoying, and he couldn’t sleep with a nightlight that bright. It was getting to the point where he had a feeling he would have to ask Caleb.

Alex was lucky lifers couldn’t hear him, that way he didn’t get funny looks for yelling in wordless frustration at a random door. That would be embarrassing, which was his least favorite thing.

Also, what if the door was something bad? What if it was a portal to Hell or something? Why would it choose _him_ to follow?

Alex sighed, rubbing his hands over his face.

Caleb would be back from helping Julie eventually. Alex could just wait for him at the club in his office. That was probably a good idea, right?

He _poof_ ed, appearing outside the door to Caleb’s office. A second later, a sucking noise echoed behind him as a soft light source was added to the room. The door had followed him. Not a huge surprise, but then Alex had been hoping that maybe the door wouldn’t be able to find him.

He had to wait a few hours, and was contemplating finding Willie, but Caleb appeared.

Right behind the door.

He ran into the door.

Alex would chuckle if he weren’t so annoyed.

Caleb rubbed his forehead, looking at the door in shock and then looking around the area outside his office before his eyes fell on Alex. He shot a glance between the door and Alex, an eyebrow raising. “Alex. What can I do for you?”

Alex gave him a _duh_ look and motioned at the door. “This door appeared after I saw my sister, and nothing I do will make it go away.”

Caleb’s eyes twinkled. He knew something Alex didn’t about this door. “I see. Well, it seems you’ve done something a good portion of ghosts never manage to. It seems congratulations are in order.”

Alex cocked his head. “But why?”

“Why? Because that door is the sign that you have completed your unfinished business.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like it to be said that even though Alex’s parents are obviously showing remorse after his death, this does not excuse their actions. No child should have to go through that, and though they may have changed, Alex doesn’t need to forgive them for hurting him so badly. They were supposed to be there for their child and they weren’t. 
> 
> Also, Lola is a biromantic asexual queen who has adopted many teenagers as her children with her wife, Naomi. 
> 
> ...Sorry not sorry about the cliffhanger. Kind of sorry since the next update is coming later than normal, whoops. What do you think the door does? I’m curious to see if any of you get it right. 
> 
> Also, last order of business, for those of you that read ABIAWC, I am working on the next part, and it’s coming. I’m just really busy with school and holiday preparations, sorry. 
> 
> I hope you’re all keeping healthy and safe and making sure you do your part to keep others safe! Happy holidays everyone!


	13. 2 Down, 1 to Go

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sad times are ahead, sorry not sorry. But fluffy times are too!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I...am so sorry this took so long. I said 2 weeks and it was more like 2.5, sorry. This chapter is the longest yet, coming in at over 6k, and I am so proud of myself even if this took forever. I’m scrambling with schoolwork because I have so much to catch up on and we’re trying to get my mental health under control, because it hasn’t been all that great for over a year now. 
> 
> Happy New Years, btw! Let’s hope this one holds less ridiculousness and pain than the last one. 
> 
> Anyway, I think I have to, for now, move updates to every 2–2.5 weeks, at least for now while I figure everything out and get everything under control. Hopefully I’ll be able to go back to my usual once a week updates, but until then I can’t promise that. I will get the updates up, though, I promise (bc otherwise I would obsess and be anxious). Like I said before, I know exactly where this story is going so the only issue with getting chapters out is the time to write them. 
> 
> Happy reading!

“Why? Because that door is the sign that you have completed your unfinished business.”

Alex gaped, looking between the door and Caleb with his eyes wide. “Wait—It’s a sign I _what_?”

Caleb nodded, smiling proudly. “You’ve completed your unfinished business, it seems.”

Alex looked again at the door, white light spilling from the opening. It wasn’t anything fancy, just an open doorway spilling bright light (which, he would admit, was a bit odd) and the door halfway open. It was a simple white frame and white door, blinding in its brightness. “Wait, wait. Then what’s the door _for_? What does it do? Does it cross me over? I already walked through and it did nothing.” Alex’s eyes widened in a sudden thought, his hands sweating. “Oh my god I walked through it. I could have crossed over without even knowing and left everyone behind without even meaning it!”

Caleb shook his head, stepping forward. “Alex, calm down, child. The thing about the doors is actually quite special. You couldn’t have crossed over without meaning to, I promise you.”

“How?”

Caleb motioned to the chair, and Alex collapsed into it gratefully. Caleb took the seat across from him, steepling his fingers. “So, once you have completed your unfinished business, there are two things that could happen: the door could appear, like it has for you, and follow you around, or, the second option, the door will still appear, but it will suck you in. The deciding factor for which happens is where you’re destined to end up.

“Those who are headed up above—Heaven, if you will—are given the first option. Those destined for the less than pleasant location will be sucked into their door. Now, if, as a ghost, you truly realize you were a horrible person in real life and would like to change, then the door won’t suck you in. If you feel no remorse, though, it will drag you down to where you belong. It has to have been a truly horrible life you were leading to not receive a second chance, since everyone’s ideas of good and evil differ and for one cosmic power to define something as completely good or completely bad would be a direct contradiction to the idea of free will humans supposedly have. I’m getting off track though.”

Alex nodded, following so far. “Okay, but that doesn’t explain why I didn’t just cross over when I went through the door?”

“I was getting to that,” Caleb chided in amusement. “The reason you didn’t cross over is simply this: you did not _intend_ to. The door that does not immediately suck you in gives you two choices. You may either cross over, or you may stay in this plane as a ghost—with the possibility to come back to life, if circumstances line up properly. Now, because you did not intend to cross over or know what the door meant, you were unable to cross over.”

“Okay but what if I don’t want to cross over? Am I going to have a door following me around for the rest of my—afterlife?” Alex paused before the word afterlife, clearly about to say life before thinking better of it. “I can’t have a door follow me around for the rest of eternity!”

“Alex. Alex!” Caleb leaned forward and stilled Alex’s drumming fingers. “It won’t follow you around for eternity. To get rid of the door you either walk through it or you close it. You walk through it with full knowledge that you are leaving this plane behind and are crossing over, or you close it with the full knowledge that you are closing the doorway to crossing over and that you truly _want_ to stay on the earthly plane.”

Alex’s mouth formed a small ‘o’. “Oh, so that’s all. Okay. I can do that.” He stood up, but hesitated in moving. He looked at his hands and then at the door.

“You don’t have to make your decision now, Alex. The door isn’t going away until you are absolutely sure. This isn’t a decision to make lightly, but, if I might make a suggestion, go with what your heart tells you to do.” Caleb’s gaze was understanding, and Alex gulped, still staring in trepidation at the door.

“I just—closing the door on crossing over for forever?”

Caleb shrugged. “Well, I assume that, were you to come back to life, you would die again. The only mystery there is whether you would come back as a ghost again or if you would cross over immediately.” He made no move to hurry Alex along, instead sitting back and letting him think about it.

Alex nodded, biting his lip and wringing his fingers. He thought for another second before setting his shoulders and walking forward, placing a trembling hand on the door’s handle. He kind of wished the boys were here, but this was also something he needed to do alone (he was ignoring the fact that Caleb was there because that wasn’t quite the same).

“I can do this,” he said to himself under his breath. He squared his shoulders and pulled the door closed with a _click_ of finality.

Alex was expecting a _whoosh_ or a _bang_. What he got wasn’t as loud, but was no less of a sight to behold. It folded in on itself in a bright white sphere that vibrated in the air briefly before shrinking even more and disappearing. The door was gone, and if Alex couldn’t remember the feeling of annoyance at it following him around, he would almost have thought it had never been there in the first place.

Caleb laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, squeezing it carefully. “Are you okay?”

Alex nodded. “Yeah. Yep. It’s not like I really wanted to leave them behind, it’s just…my parents always said I wouldn’t make it to Heaven. But I had the option? It’s…overwhelming.”

Caleb nodded, the lines around his eyes soft. “I understand.”

Alex smiled, a small quirk of the lips.

——

Reggie and Luke were both with Julie and Victoria. Billy was supposed to visit today to hear their response to his ultimatum. They were trying to figure out a plan to trap him, but they weren’t having much success.

“Hey Alex!” Reggie greeted, looking up from Tía’s binder.

Alex returned the greeting in the form of a small wave, sitting down. Caleb joined them, his eyebrows drawn together as he read through the page the binder was open to.

“Do we know what time Billy is supposed to get here?” Alex asked anxiously, checking the clock on the wall.

Julie shook her head, biting her lip. “No, we don’t.”

“But we’ll be ready anyway, right?” Reggie cocked his head.

“We’ll try?” Julie only offered a shaky smile that looked more like a grimace and a shrug.

“How’d your thing go?” Luke asked Alex softly.

Alex shrugged. “Okay, I guess. I completed my unfinished business.”

Julie’s shoulders grew taught, but she didn’t look up from the binder page she suddenly thought held the secrets to the universe. “Oh?”

Alex nodded warily. “Yeah. There—there was a door and—it was weird.”

“Wait but you’re still here?” Reggie had drawn in on himself, but he seemed genuinely confused.

“He’s not going to disappear,” Caleb chimed in. Alex shot him a confused look, missing how Julie and the other two boys seemed to drain of their tension almost at once, relieved.

“Yeah…Anyway. It was just a door I had to close, but I had to know what closing the door meant in order for it to work. It was really weird and it kept following me around before that.”

Reassured that Alex wasn’t going to spontaneously disappear, Luke lunged forward to pull him into a tight hug. “Dude! Congrats! You completed your unfinished business! This means you’re one step closer to the ritual being successful, right?” Luke looked at Victoria earnestly.

She laughed and nodded, grinning at the two of them. “It does, _mijo_. Now for you two to complete _your_ unfinished business.”

Caleb tapped Reggie on the shoulder. The bassist whirled around, relaxing when he saw it was only Caleb. “I believe I’ve found your mother and one of your sisters, Reggie,” Caleb said softly, an undetectable note in his voice that Reggie couldn’t decipher.

Reggie grinned, his eyes nervous. “Really?”

“Yes. I can give you the address, if you’d like?”

“Yes! Yes.” Reggie bobbed his head excitedly.

Caleb chuckled, pulling out his phone to write down the address.

“Well, isn’t this cute.” A droll voice deadpanned from the kitchen, the _click_ ing of heels meeting tile announcing someone’s entrance. Everyone whirled around, their eyes wide. Victoria and Caleb set themselves in front of the kids.

“Oh please,” she scoffed. “There’s no need for that, really.”

“Who are you?” Julie ventured.

“I suppose it depends on what exactly you mean by that question. Call me what you will, it doesn’t particularly matter.” The woman shrugged, examining a well-manicured blood-red nail in disinterest.

Julie scowled. Not answers was something she _hated_. It was pretty obvious what she meant. She just wanted a name, for pete’s sake.

“Why are you here?” Reggie asked hesitantly, his expression guarded.

Painted red lips drew into a sharp grin, all teeth. “Well, now, that’s the question, isn’t it? The answer is that I am here for _your_ answer to William’s question. So? What’ll it be?”

“No.” Julie’s voice didn’t waver, which she was thankful for, because her heart was pounding and sweat was gathering. The woman turned the grin on her, a knowing glint in her eyes.

“Oh?”

“We said no,” Luke reiterated. His voice was still gritty, but it mercifully didn’t break.

The woman hummed. “Well then. I suppose I’ll have to let him know.”

“We gave you our answer, now I would like you out of this house,” Victoria demanded, her eyes gleaming icily.

The woman clucked. “Hm. Very well. I will leave you to…whatever it is you are doing.” She disappeared in a sharp crack, a red haze veiling the air the only sign she had been there.

Julie released a touch of the the tension she hadn’t realized had held her tight. Luke’s hand found the small of her back, rubbing soothing circles in an attempt to relax her. She shot him a grateful quirk of the lips. Julie wouldn’t admit she was still waiting for the other shoe to drop. After all, Billy had said the boys would be destroyed if they failed to comply with his demand.

Alex had just completed his unfinished business, and the other two were well on their way to doing the same. It wouldn’t be _fair_ for them to be destroyed now.

——

“ _Well_?” Billy demanded, standing up sharply from where he had been lounging.

She shrugged. “They declined.”

“They _what_.”

“Have you lost your hearing? I could’ve sworn you at least had working ears to make up for the lack of a working brain.” She raised a defined eyebrow in a combination of annoyance and mild amusement.

Billy growled at her, glowering. They weren’t supposed to call his bluff. He was a businessman, the expert of the art of the bluff. _No one_ was supposed to be able to call them.

“Tell me,” she started curiously, “Are those boys really going to be destroyed?”

Billy shot her a venomous look. “No,” he admitted shortly. “No, they won’t. They were simply sick. I just made it a bit…worse…when I tried to possess them.”

She made a noncommittal hum, but said nothing else.

“I just don’t understand why they wouldn’t take the deal! They couldn’t possibly have known I was lying,” Billy raged, pacing back and forth, his body steaming in frustration.

“Well they did. Now what?”

“That’s none of your business!” Billy snapped, not bothering to look up.

The woman’s face frosted over and she glared. “Fine. We’re even now, William, I owe you nothing else. Don’t expect my assistance again.”

“No wait—” But she was already gone.

Billy released a wordless shout of frustration to the ceiling, kicking the wall and not caring about the satisfying _crunch_ that let him know he had broken it.

It was fine, everything was _fine_. He could do this himself.

——

When nothing happened, no collapsing, no spontaneous ghost combustion, they all looked around the room. The spirit of crickets chirping was definitely there, even though it couldn’t be heard.

“I kind of expected to be on the ground in pain right now,” Reggie hedged, looking around the room as if it had some secret laser to shoot at him or something.

Luke nodded.

“Maybe it was a bluff? He didn’t possess you for very long, if at all, I can’t imagine he had time to leave any nasty ghost sickness behind. At least, not to the degree he said.” Julie’s eyebrows were drawn close in thought.

“We’ll keep an eye on it. For now, _mija_ , why don’t we get started on putting together the mixture needed for the ritual, yes?” Tía wrapped an arm around Julie’s shoulder and pulled her gently into the kitchen.

The boys all exchanged looks.

Caleb wrote something down and handed it to Reggie with an urging expression. “The addresses of your mother and your older sister.”

Reggie grinned, taking the paper from Caleb’s hand and reading the addresses. “I know where the first one is!” He disappeared in a comic-sounding _poof_ , leaving Alex and Luke. Luke nudged Alex and motioned with his head toward the studio before disappearing as well.

Caleb waited, but Alex didn’t follow. “Weren’t you going to join Luke?”

Alex shook his head. “No. He just meant he was going to the studio. I could go if I wanted, but he didn’t specifically ask me to.” They sat in silence, Alex twiddling his fingers. Caleb waited patiently, knowing Alex wanted to say something.

Finally, “If I come back to life…what happens to me and Willie?”

Caleb grimaced, looking down to study the floor. “Well, I believe you and the other two will be able to keep some semblance of your ghost powers, including being able to see and touch ghosts, but you will age and Willie will…not.”

“So…that’s it?” Alex asked, his expression vulnerable as he considered the meaning behind Caleb’s words.

“Well, it’s not impossible, though it isn’t quite probable, either. In order to join you, Willie would also need to discern what his unfinished business is. He’s been a ghost for much longer than you, Alex, and hasn’t discovered his unfinished business. It’s unlikely he’ll know what it is and complete it by the end of the week.” Caleb’s eyes were soft in sympathy, and he delivered the news quietly.

Alex nodded wordlessly, his eyes wet.

Caleb placed a hand on Alex’s shoulder, and though Alex wanted to shrug it off, he also needed it, so he did nothing. “I’m sure you and Willie will find a way, Alex,” Caleb reassured.

Alex nodded, but it felt empty.

“Caleb!” Victoria called from the kitchen. “I need your help with something!”

Caleb squeezed Alex’s shoulder one last time before getting up to go help Victoria and Julie with what they were doing. Alex sat on the couch, unaware of the passing time, before _poof_ ing away to the beach. It helped Reggie, maybe it would help him. He didn’t really feel like talking to people, anyway.

——

The weekend passed uneventfully (read: the boys weren’t destroyed), and before Julie knew it it was Tuesday. Today was Luke’s day to help Julie learn how to focus her magic. Victoria had given her a few simple spells to try out. Julie had gotten the first few, but the next one…

Well, it wasn’t coming to her as easily as the others had.

Julie groaned, the magenta flickering as her eyes returned to their usual brown. “I’m never going to get this.”

Luke cocked his head. “Yeah, you will.”

“No, I won’t,” Julie snapped back, raising her head and glaring at him.

Julie groaned again, this time in frustrated acceptance of his words. “Yeah, okay. I guess you’re right.”

Luke shook her slightly, grinning down at her. “You know I’m right.”

Julie shook her head, grinning stubbornly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Uh-huh.”

Julie’s grin softened into a smile. “Thank you.”

“Of course. Now come on, I bet tenth time’s the charm, right?”

Julie shook her head in exasperation before drawing on her magic again.

——

Reggie…hadn’t actually visited his family yet. He was too scared, so he had spent most of the weekend gathering up the strength (with a little help from Luke and Alex). The boys had offered to go with him, but ultimately he knew this he needed to do for himself.

The house before him was small (by LA standards), but not ugly. It was painted with a soft, silvery grey color and the lights inside were out. There was no sound of the yelling or the crashes that would echo through his house when he had been alive, just silence. It was actually kind of unnerving.

Reggie swallowed before _poof_ ing into the house. The blinds were drawn and only small rays of sunlight were able to break through, illuminating the room. Reggie smiled to himself when he heard the snores. His mother always had liked sleeping in.

He stepped slowly, carefully, even though his mother wouldn’t hear any sound he made if he didn’t want her to. The snores grew louder as he grew closer, and he stepped cautiously through the door, his eyes taking a second to adjust to the dim light. His mother was laying on her right side, facing the door, her mouth open in a snore. Reggie smiled softly to himself as he made his way toward her.

His mother sniffled, snorting and shifting slightly before settling back down, her left hand in front of her face. Reggie noticed the lack of a ring with a wistful smile. His father hadn’t been the greatest, even if he’d tried, and the same was true of his mother. They became too wrapped up in how horrible they were for each other that they found it hard to pay attention to their children, even though they probably would have done better with other spouses.

Reggie kneeled in front of her. “Hey mom,” he whispered, his voice breaking.

His mother’s peaceful face slipped into a soft smile, barely there but still causing a pit of warmth to form in Reggie’s chest. She had given the best hugs.

“I’m sorry I left all of you, I didn’t mean to. But I love you.”

His mother muttered something incomprehensible before echoing back, “I love you,” on a breath.

Reggie placed a hand on her shoulder and leaned forward to kiss her brow. Her face wrinkled briefly before settling back into the peaceful smile of before. Reggie squeezed her shoulder just slightly before standing up to walk to the door.

He paused before passing through it, turning back and blowing her a kiss. Reggie sighed and walked through the door, _poof_ ing away from the area. He had one more place to cover.

——

“We have a few more things to do before we’ll let the potion steep for a few days. It should be ready just before the night of the ritual,” Tía said.

Julie nodded, focusing on grounding the unicorn shavings up. So far she had a somewhat chunky container of thick, rock-like dust. She needed it to be thinner. Next to her, Tía counted out a few leaves to rip up.

Julie sighed, her arms tired, and summoned her magic, letting it flow through her arms and into the grinder. It helped ease her sore muscles and grind the shavings more easily, but it was still tiring. Eventually, though, she wound up with a fine powder.

“Done,” Julie declared in relief.

Tía leaned over to examine the results and nodded in satisfaction. “Yes, you are. Go and add in a few pinches of it every thirty seconds, and then I’ll let you go.”

Julie nodded, pulling out her phone and opening the clock so she would know when thirty seconds had passed. Victoria worked beside her silently, and as Julie added the powder, the potion changed gradually from a deep green to a dark pewter.

Tía leaned over to check again and gave a thumbs up before returning to another ingredient. “Flynn told your dad she would be by once school was done, which should be in about ten minutes.”

“Got it.”

“And Julie?” Victoria called to Julie’s retreating back.

“Yeah?” Julie asked, turning back around.

“ _Gracias_.”

Julie smiled. “Thank _you_.” She spun around and headed up to her room, her phone in hand as it buzzed with a text from Carrie.

**Carrie:** _U’re not in school_

Julie snorted, reading the underlying concern. Flynn had probably been cagey with Carrie about what was going on. Which Julie could understand, but that wasn’t the point.

**Julie:** _Demon problems. It’s a safety thing._

 **Carrie:** _Is the school safe?_

 **Julie:** _I’m not there, so it should be_

 **Carrie:** _Hmm_

**…**

U okay though?

 **Julie:** _Yep, I’m fine_

 **Carrie:** _K, lmk if I can do anything. I have a score to settle too_

 **Julie:** _Yep, dw, I know_

Read 2:55 pm

Julie opened her bedroom door and collapsed on her bed with a sigh. She laid there for a second before standing back up and changing clothes. Her phone was a comforting weight in her hand as she mindlessly switched between scrolling through Instagram and Pinterest.

The sound of the door opening and closing downstairs pulled her out of her reverie, and she checked the time to see half-past three. She recognized the footsteps coming upstairs as Flynn’s and sat up.

“How was your day?” Julie asked, grinning.

Flynn groaned, setting the stuff in her hands aside and collapsing right next to Julie. “Ugh. Carrie had _so many_ questions, and so did all our other classmates. I told them you were really sick and taking a while to get over it, but _everybody_ was asking so I had to keep repeating myself. You know how I hate to do that.”

Julie laughed sympathetically, placing an arm on Flynn’s bicep. “Yeah, I do.”

Flynn stayed quiet for a few minutes to finish commiserating before she bounced up. “Alright, homework. You didn’t miss much, really, though you have some stuff to read and a few workpages.”

Julie groaned but grabbed the stack Flynn had set aside. “Let’s get at least half of this done.”

Flynn nodded. “Good plan.” She bit her lip before adding, “And maybe after you can show me a magic trick you’ve learned?”

“Yeah sure.” Julie laughed and shook her head, focusing back on the homework.

 _Calculus_.

She and Flynn shared a look.

“Yep, that’s for later.”

“Not right now.”

They shared a look, bursting into laughter before pulling out one of the music theory assignments to do first.

——

“What’s up, Hotdog?” Willie asked, his eyebrows furrowed. They were on their usual perch of the Hollywood sign, the sun making its way down the horizon in swathes of orange, pinks, and purples.

Alex rocked on his heels, his hands stuffed in his pockets but still drumming his legs in anxiety. “I…talked to Caleb earlier. He said there might be issues with me coming back to life.”

——

This house, like his mother’s, was quiet. Reggie spared a moment to consider that his sister was probably at work or whatever she did during the day. She was an adult, after all. That’s what adults did, right?

Either way, Reggie could at least look around the house.

Kennedy (Kennie) had always kept Reggie company when she could. She had played with him, made sure to visit even when in college, and to take him out of the house and away from his parents periodically (whenever she could).

The inside of the house was decorated in shades of deep purple and blue with accents of white, Kennie’s favorite colors. The mantle was to the left of the entryway. The wood was white, ornate pattering under it. On top was a chest, eggplant with silver spiderwebbing over it and a gold latch.

Reggie had to move closer to see what else was on the mantle. He would read the metal thing under the chest after he saw everything else.

There were pictures of Kennie with a man, rings on their fingers glinting in the sunlight and his arms wrapping around her torso in a hug from behind. Another picture had the two behind a child, a three year old boy that looked similar to Reggie as a child in everything except his chestnut hair and the eyebrows he shared with Kennie. They all looked so happy, and Reggie hoped that his sister’s marriage was better than their own parents.

Another picture had Kennie and her husband in matching uniforms, and when Reggie peered closer he saw the EMT patch on the left arm. His breath caught. His sister was an EMT. She’d never wanted to be, so why—?

Oh.

 _Oh_.

Reggie had a brief flashback to the sounds of muted sirens around him as his stomach clenched and a nameless face was replaced by a penlight.

She had become an EMT.

 _Oh, Kennie_ , Reggie couldn’t help but think, his eyes watering. His eyes moved to the chest, to the metal plate that was under it, and he couldn’t help but stagger back.

_Kennedy Anderson_

_May 9ᵗʰ, 1974 – October 31ˢᵗ, 2003_

_You changed so many lives, Kennie,_

_And we will always cherish your memory_

Reggie must have reread it at least half a dozen times, the moisture spilling from his eyes as his legs grew weak beneath him. She had _died_. Just like he had.</p!

Only…she had managed to do so much more with her life. But it was still too soon.

It wasn’t _fair_ , okay? He deserved to at least be able to see her.

 _She deserved to_ live.

The world must really hate him, huh.

——

“So what did Caleb tell you?” Willie asked, his head cocked and the dying sun lighting up the left side of his face.

Alex only hesitated a second before everything Caleb had told him, everything about the boys aging, about still being able to see and interact with ghosts, and everything about how Alex would eventually age past Willie, who would be stuck at the same age he had died at. Alex’s voice grew quiet at the end. “And we just decided to give this a shot, but now it’s destined to fail?”

 _Maybe I don’t deserve anyone_ , Alex thought to himself bitterly, echoing what his parents had implied so many times in his life.

Willie poked him fiercely, and Alex looked up with an indignant expression. “You don’t know that,” Willie insisted, holding up a hand when Alex went to interrupt. “No, okay? I get that the chances are small, but if we spend forever worrying about the future of our relationships with people then that’s not really giving it a shot. I spent too long while I was alive not even trying to make friends with people because I was too worried they would leave me, and it was pretty lonely.

“We’ll worry about it when it happens, but for now why can’t we just _be_?”

Alex looked down at his hands in his lap. He gave a small nod, imagining he could actually feel his heart beating from nerves, and looked back up. “Okay,” he whispered.

“Okay?” Willie echoed back, smiling.

Alex nodded, grinning, the fear of the future only showing in his eyes.

Willie leaned forward, his hand gently grabbing Alex’s chin and bringing his face forward until their noses were touching. Alex waited with baited breath, his eyes darting down to Willie’s lips.

Willie smiled softly before it turned into something mischievously and he pecked Alex on the cheek before sitting back.

Alex sputtered, his eyes wide. “Hey!”

“What?” Willie asked slyly.

“You know what!” Alex insisted.

“So what are you going to do about it?” Willie said teasingly.

Alex’s eyes narrowed and he lunged forward, locking into a kiss with Willie. It wasn’t soft, like the few they’d had before. This one was desperate, with the full knowledge that they wouldn’t have each other for forever and had to use the time they had now so they had no regrets later. Alex tasted like _life_ , like love, and Willie couldn’t help but sigh into the kiss.

They didn’t have forever, but they had now, and they could use that.

——

Reggie didn’t know how long he stayed on the floor in front of the mantle, his knees tucked under his chin as he tried to stop crying. He jumped when the door to the apartment clicked open and a boy, in his late teens or very early twenties, walked in. Quick mental math told Reggie that this was probably his nephew (and wasn’t that weird, the thought of his nephew being older than he was).

He watched as his nephew dropped his bag by the entryway closet and went into the kitchen. Reggie didn’t know what he was expecting, but his nephew gathering ingredients for what looked like dinner wasn’t it.

Reggie leaned against the wall and watched, observing the boy as he went about normal life. The sun was almost gone before Reggie realized he should probably check back in with the boys. Reggie muttered a farewell the boy couldn’t hear and _poof_ ed out.

When he got back to the studio, Luke, Alex, and Willie were already there.

“Hey Willie,” Reggie greeted, attempting to quirk his lips in a smile. He was pretty sure it fell flat, though.

“What’s wrong?” Luke asked, his head cocked in concern.

Reggie shrugged heartlessly. “I—Kennie died.”

“What?” Alex gasped. Willie looked confused, but stayed quiet.

“She—uh—she became an EMT. Probably not long after we died,” here he gave a humorless laugh. “Married, had a kid—a nephew—but she died in 2003.”

“Oh, dude,” Luke said sympathetically. He slowly stood up, telegraphing his movement so Reggie could refuse if he wanted to, and wrapped Reggie in a tight hug. Alex joined, and with an encouraging smile to Willie, so did he.

“I’m sorry,” Alex said softly.

Reggie shrugged. “It’s fine. It’s not like it’s recent.”

Willie shook his head. “But to you it is. This isn’t something you’ve had seventeen years to get used to, Reg, and that’s okay. She probably helped a lot of people, y’know?”

“I know she did. She wanted to become a therapist, though—a couples’ therapist.”

“She must have wished she was there when—” Luke trailed off.

Reggie nodded. “Yeah, I figured that out. I dunno…I just—I wish I’d gotten to say goodbye.”

Alex nudged him, his voice awkward as he said. “Well, at least now we know there’s a place people go afterward, right? So you’ll be able to see her again eventually.”

Reggie’s eyebrows scrunched. He hadn’t considered that. “You’re right. I will see her again.”

Luke smiled slightly. “There ya go.”

A sparkling, like one would hear in fairytale movies, rang through the air. They all broke the hug to see what it was, and Alex’s face lit into a smile when he saw the door. It was different than his had been—a deep mahogany frame with a maroon door attached, left halfway open.

“What…?” Reggie muttered.

“It’s the unfinished business door!” Alex told him, pulling him in for another hug. Reggie’s eyes grew wide as he processed the words.

“Wait, so—that’s—?”

Alex nodded before going on to explain what Caleb had told him about the door. As he talked, Reggie walked around the door, examining it curiously. He stuck his hand through the gap and his jaw dropped when the hand appeared on the other side, having gone nowhere.

“And that’s how you get rid of it,” Alex finished.

Willie nudged Luke and Alex.

“We’ll give you some time, bro,” Luke said quietly, Willie and Alex disappearing from the room with him.

Reggie smiled gratefully at thin air briefly and turned back to the door. His hand hesitated as he moved it to the doorknob. What if he didn’t close it? He could see his sister again, get to know everything that had happened with her after he’d died. They wouldn’t have the underlying sounds of their parents screaming behind all their conversations.

But he would miss the boys, and Julie, Carlos, and even Caleb. He couldn’t leave them behind to experience a new life without him, even if he did miss his sister.

Reggie sighed, his mind made up, and reached forward to shut the door. It closed with a final click, and Reggie watched in interest as it folded in on itself before disappearing in a burst of white light.

The boys were waiting anxiously when he appeared in the Molina living room, and he smiled at them. Luke let out an obvious sigh of relief, and Alex’s forehead smoothed out as Reggie pulled them all in for a hug.

Willie patted him on the back. “I should get back to the club, there are a few things I need to do before tonight. Congrats, Reggie.”

“Thanks Willie.”

Willie waved one last time and pecked Alex on the cheek before disappearing.

Reggie and Luke looked at each other before turning their cheshire grins on Alex.

“Oh no you don’t!” Alex said, shaking his head. “Nuh-uh, don’t start.”

“C’mon, Alex,” Luke pouted, pulling Alex in for a side hug.

“You two are so cute together!” Reggie gushed, focusing on turning his mind away from his sister.

Alex sighed, resigned to the teasing.

——

“That was so cool!” Flynn squealed, her eyes wide in awe as she looked between Julie and the air where there had just been a unicorn made out of Julie’s tea prancing around the room.

Julie smiled.

Flynn cleared her throat, looking down at her phone. “I should probably go, though. My dad wants me home.”

Before Flynn could get up, Julie called out to whoever had knocked on her door. Carlos flew in, looking around the room suspiciously. “You just did magic, didn’t you!” He must have been summoned by the squeal.

Julie chuckled. “Yes, and…?”

Carlos pouted. “C’mon Julie, I wanna see! The only thing I’ve seen is that really cool trick where your eyes turn a different color. What about _real_ magic? Pleeeeaaasssse.”

“Maybe later tonight, after dinner, okay?”

Carlos groaned, turning and leaving the room.

“C’mon,” Julie said, turning back to Flynn. “I’ll walk you downstairs.”

Flynn and Julie hugged each other when they got downstairs, Flynn waving to the boys in the living room before walking out the door, she and Julie exchanging one last wave.

The boys waved back and greeted Julie as she joined them. “What’re you guys up to?” She asked, plopping down on the couch next to Reggie.

“Reggie finished his unfinished business,” Luke said with a grin.

Julie’s eyes widened, her face breaking into a smile as she turned to Reggie. “Really? That’s great!”

Reggie tried to muster up the same excitement as he responded, “Yeah, it is.”

Julie frowned, picking up on the halfhearted tone and looking at the other two in confusion before she turned back to Reggie. “Is something wrong?”

Reggie shook his head, his lips quirking up. “No, it’s fine. I don’t really wanna talk about it, y’know?”

Julie nodded. “Okay. Are you good with a hug?”

Reggie nodded, never one to turn down a hug, and Julie pulled him in for a tight hug that lasted several minutes. When they pulled away, Reggie cleared his throat awkwardly. “Now only Luke’s left!”

“You’re right!”

Luke looked like a deer in the headlights, his eyes wide as he sputtered. “Oh—well…”

“…What’s wrong? You know where your parents are,” Julie said in confusion.

you did—and I don’t know what else I need to do! The only thing I can think of is actually _appearing_ to them, but I don’t wanna hurt them by dragging up something they’ve probably already gotten over.” Luke ended with a shrug, looking down to study the floor.

Alex shook his head, poking Luke on the knee. “They’re your _parents_ , Luke. No matter how much closure the song might have given them, they still lost you. Being able to see you again—even for a minute—will mean so much to them, and to you. This is _your_ unfinished business. You have to do what you need, not your parents.”

“I can go with you again tomorrow, if you need,” Julie offered quietly.

Luke debated with himself before sighing. “Okay, fine. Thanks, Julie.”

“Of course. We’ll go tomorrow afternoon, yeah?”

“Sounds good.”

Luke would probably be up all night so tomorrow didn’t arrive as fast, thinking about every possible way the situation could go.

It wouldn’t be that bad, would it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....Sorry!!!
> 
> Honestly, I wasn’t planning the thing with Reggie’s sister until it came to planning the chapter and then my brain was like 👀 You know what would _really_ hurt?
> 
> Anyway....Sorry not sorry, lol. Also, how’d I do with the kissing scene? I believe that’s the third I’ve ever written, so don’t judge to harshly (I don’t have much experience lol). 
> 
> Also, I’ve created a discord server! It’s for writers, alpha readers, beta readers, artists, and other content creators of all fandoms. If you aren’t a creator and you just want to see what people’s creative process is and be able to cheer them on, you’re welcome too! So....join it? 👉🏻👈🏻🥺 https://discord.gg/yUjR2FMV
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed it! It does wonders for me to receive your comments, but if you cannot leave one due to time or your own mental health, I completely understand. I hope the new year has gone at least semi-well for you so far, and that it continues to do so. Thank you for reading!

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you’re all enjoying this! I’m having a lot of fun writing this so I hope you’re all having fun reading it. Stay happy, healthy, and safe, and I’m sending good vibes toward everyone’s ways!


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